By Rodney James It’s important for church leaders to know the fundamentals of the church building process. Our team is made up of experienced ministry facility design experts who desire to help educate them on the process in an effort to ensure critical steps aren’t missed. #1: Carefully think through the purpose of each area […]
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By Jim Peckham Building committee members and church leaders often face a dilemma when developing building plans for church facilities. Planning should begin by addressing two fundamental questions: What’s the mission for the church? And What type of facility is needed to support the mission? However, the answers to these two questions often lead to […]
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For an 18,000-square-foot worship center for the new Oklahoma Assembly of God State Youth Camp in Sparks, OK, a metal building system made the most sense. Here’s why.
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Some would argue we shouldn’t evaluate the church’s ministries. Even if a church doesn’t invite critique, it takes place every Sunday on an informal level. We know guests make a decision about a church within the first seven minutes of arriving on the campus.
Knowing this, your church (and every church) needs a partner to design its facilities — one who understands your ministry. Having the right team to first guide in an effective evaluation, and then begin to create and design a facility that functions for your ministry, helps your church be more effective.
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The core elements of stained glass have remained unchanged for more than 1,000 years.
In their own era, our contemporaries designed, cut, leaded, delivered and installed the stained glass windows. Standing on the traditions of the past, the history and traditions of our specialized artistry inform the present. Artists are designers of composition and form; the form relays a symbolic message which we can understand, or which will pique our imaginations.
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Often, when a church decides it wants to build, the first step is to get a set of plans designed and then bid out with several contractors. Nearly every month, we encounter churches where — after bidding the plans — the project is over budget and cannot be completed.
Other church leaders tell us their buildings were built using this process … and yet they ended up spending a significant amount more than the contractor’s original bid.
You might ask how this could happen. The answer: cost overrun.
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In this installment, we’ll focus on three types of alternative site selection:
#1: Expansion on one site (current or new)
#2: Expansion on multiple sites
#3: Expansion through church planting or new starts
For most of my professional career, I have been anti-performance and payment bond-oriented. To me, they seem like such a waste of money. In short, they’re just an insurance policy (although the Surety industry would say they are not “insurance” but rather a “guarantee” — semantics!) in the unlikely event the general contractor on a job is unable to complete the project (usually due to a bankruptcy or other major catastrophe related to the contractor). In theory, that sounds great. It almost feels like the proverbial “Get Out Of Jail” card. But is it really?
Read More >Earlier this month, Kebony wood unveiled its first completed project with ecclesiastical design. It was chosen as the material of choice to create a façade for a new chapel which opened last autumn in Mölndal, Sweden. European churches tend to use traditional building materials for posterity, permanence and durability, so the use of Kebony’s wood in this project allows the chapel a fusion of contemporary style and traditional durability.
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Showcasing eco-friendly components in your new-build project conveys good stewardship — financial and environmental.
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