3 Things a Church Building Cannot Do

Posted on Nov 6, 2011

Last week we looked at the 3 Reasons Why NOT to Build. This week I want to expound on this a little deeper and look at some misconceptions about what a church facility can and cannot do.

What are some of the things a church building cannot do? There are lots of things, like wash your car, do the dishes, preach a sermon and so on…but…here are 3 facts that address many misconceptions church leaders have about what a  new church building or a building program can/cannot do:

1. A building cannot stimulate growth: If you are not growing now you do not need a building to stimulate growth. People think, well, if we build it they will come. If we build it, it is going to create excitement. If you are not already at a point where your growth is a primary factor for building, then building will not stimulate your growth. We have actually seen instance where the opposite has happened and the building initiative has put the church in decline, because the motives were wrong.

2. A building cannot improve members’ giving to ministry: Again, if the congregation is not not already giving and living of life of spiritual generosity, a building project cannot get them to become regular contributors. Now, you might do a campaign…and you might have some people come out of the closet to give to a “project”, but that in and of itself is not going to motivate them to adopt a Biblical approach to financial stewardship. You may want to consider exploring this further with a Generosity Coach (if you need some names, call me).

3.  A building cannot motivate people to minister: I’ve heard it time and time again, ‘well If we just had a building program, our people will want to get out there and they will want to evangelize and they’ll want to witness’.  No they wont! If you build a building prior to establishing a culture of evangelism, outreach and service,  what they are going to want to do is huddle inside the building. They are not going to want to get out and further the ministry, they are going to want to get inside those four walls and be comfortable in their new digs. I was part of a fast growing church back in the 1990′s that had an incredible culture of service, ministry and outreach…then…we built a lovely new sanctuary with pews and a permanent sound system…meaning no weekly setup required in the gym, to list just one change the new building caused.  The culture of the church became one of a Country Club (with “member privileges”) instead of a community of missionaries to their culture.

Now, I’m going to give you a little test. And I will need the name of each of your pastors or whomever your association leader is so that I can give them your scores to determine if you can stay as a pastor or if you need to be kicked out of the denomination, ok? (LOL). Just Kidding!

This test will help us identify what is our motivation for a building might be.  Let’s look at what are the reasons that we think we need to build a new facility. Answer YES or NO to each of the following:

1.         A new building will attract new people to the church

2.         Members will be more motivated to reach out to others once we have a new building

3.         A new building will inspire people to worship

4.         A new building program will involve more people in the work of the church

5.         A building program will motivate our people to give more generously to the work of the church.

6.         A building program will unify our people behind a significant challenge

7.         A new building will make a statement to the community about our church’s importance

8.         Our people will take greater pride in the church when the new building is complete (we don’t like our church now but if you give us a new building, we will like our church!)

9.         A new facility will provide our people with a more effective tool for ministry

If you answered YES to any of 1 thru 8 as your motivating factor, you probably need to reevaluate your motives. Nine is truly the only motivating factor that should be leading us to build a new facility;  to create an effective tool for ministry.

Again, the building is not ministry,  it’s a tool.