If you could design a new church building, what would it include or exclude?
It is for a small congregation 80-100 usually, but max attendence around 200.
Do you have any ideas for lay out? I think all one level would be more accessible for all. I would like to include a play ground some where on the land.
All on one level is good...just make sure you plan for a kids' area that is far enough away from the sanctuary, so that kids' church and "big" church are not interfering with each other .
Restrooms should not lock, especially from the inside! It protects your workers from accusations and lawsuits, and protects kids from would-be abusers.
What is your ministry plan? I know what mine is and therefore my vision for the space would not be the same as yours... What do you want your church to be "known" for?? If you want to be known as family friendly then you need to design your church around the youth ministry and have some good hangout space, if you are a teaching church then you need to have ample classrooms, if you are a church that is heavy in fellowship, then you need to have a big fellowship hall. If you tell me what your mission is then I probably help you more with a visual description of how it would work...
Proof - the church I attend now (although we are making MAJOR changes in the lay of the land) has a sanctuary, two bathrooms, two classrooms and an office... What does that tell you? They did not have a plan for growth, they don't expect many for Sunday School and all that they do is focused on Sunday only. The church I left had a library, classrooms, a nursery, a fellowship hall and a sanctuary - the Pastor's office was the smallest room there - what did that tell you - they are not focused on leadership they are focused on fellowship... They had no respect for spiritual authority but they loved to meet, greet and eat whether it was in small groups or large... And that was their focus... Prior to that I was at a church that had a room for every ministry... That church was ministry driven, but had no place for missions...
Tell me your strengths and your goals and I can tell your church's layout.
Well, let's see...About our church .....We have always been a soul-winning church, always praying, seeking God's will in everything. Over the 30 established years the church has been steady , winning souls to Christ. It is very common occurance to have 1-or 2 a week "born a gain" (A very out going church, usually 10 visitors any given Sunday). We've had many ministers developed (8-10), two of which have pastored later. We haven't had any missionaries raised up yet, but we are believing
We've always embraced the children, always had as many children as adults. Sunday school is very important. We have 8-10 class rooms, now, but only 4 functioning (have had more in the past).
Right now, youth/ childrens' building is seperate from the main sanctuary. So now we have two very large buildings for a small congregation 40-60 on Sunday. In the next 5-10 years a major road is coming right through our buildings.
I know this all sounds strange. We had a very large growth period began building & then things changed.
Yes, We all love the dinners also.. usually biggest attendance, so fellowship is also important.
Dh & I would like to see more establishment of believers, even though we have been blessed with several over the past 10 years we have pastored.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We would LOVE to have you!! Only problem is, we have to figure out how to pay you, as all of our money is tied up in the building projects!
If we could have the both people and a new building at the same time would be wonderful!!!
We are trying to plan ahead, look for options that are practical as well as functional for the church ministries.
Oh, yeah I almost forgot, we also a have a monthly outreach food box ministry for the community. We have several people who want to develop a soup kitchen, so we need to plan that in also
Have a well equipped, spacious church office with computer, color printer, copy machine, fax and phones, and filing cabinets. It is so hard to manage newsletters, bulletins, important records and counseling from home or a classroom. (Usually, this isn't even in the plan until AFTER the sanctuary is built.)
Another nice thing is to have the kitchen and dining facilities far enough away from the sanctuary so the cooking smells don't drift in to compete with pastor's sermon.
Bathrooms: handicapped stalls that are fully accessible for elderly and handicapped folks. And children-size commodes and sinks, too, accessible near edcuation rooms.
As far as the sanctuary, I'd suggest wider and shorter to bring people closer to the speaker.
And one important thing is hearing devices for hearing handicapped. Add them to your sound equipment right up front.
I'm dreaming now: heated baptistry, dressing rooms with hangers and shelves, place to store Christmas play costumes and silk flowers...
Okay, I'll quit. I know different churches have different concepts for ministry. We do a lot of music, so have quality sound equipment for at home and to take out to nursing homes and other places. In that case, we need a place to store those in the church.
We have few children in our retirement community, so our children's classrooms and auditorium are small, though nicely furnished and attractive. A church with a hundred kids would do something so different.
I think all of us probably want whatever it is we don't have! We can always use so much more space in all of our ministries...
As for us we have a sanctuary, fellowship hall, education wing, and office building. I would love for us to move completely to a new property...no more room to build...
Have a larger sanctuary...huge gym/youth/children's room, classrooms, state of the art offices...yada yada
But FLOW is so on about this...so much of it is about the vision for space.
We have a multi-level church and it is very hard to get around in. During children's church, the leaders take the kids to the fellowship hall. There is a stage and many other great things in this multi-purpose room. It's on the other side of the small complex, so there is no disturbance issue. Maybe you could keep in mind the needs of a nursing mother who wants a bit of privacy, but still wants to be in on worship time. A glass fronted room in the back with cozy rockers, a speaker set-up, and make the glass one way or tinted in such a way that the moms can see out to the service, but it preserves thier modesty and privacy. It should also be equipped with toys and changing needs like diapers, a table and so forth. As for the sanctuary, I like a semicircle design, it promotes fellowship. Just a few thoughts. Love, Lori
__________________
...... Then they came for the Catholics, and I was a Protestant, so I never said anything. And then, they came for ME, and there was no one left to speak up. Martin Neimoller, German Pastor, WW2
.
