To Build or Not to Build; Alternatives to an
Edifice
Sometimes a new building is just what a congregation needs. Sometimes,
if you build it, people will come and fill it. There is nothing worse
than having to turn away people because you don't have room for them.
And sometimes there are alternatives to a new building. Before you embark
on an exhaustive fundraising and construction effort, make sure you
really need it.
"Exploring ways to minimize structural needs can be a way of practicing
stewardship of financial resources," says Wayne Clark, the Unitarian
Universalist Association's director of congregational
fundraising services. "We are practicing good stewardship when
we worship in a space that balances the mission and the available financial
resources."
Start by analyzing existing facilities, Clark says. Choose a task force
of five to seven people to help determine the best space alternatives,
whether using the current facilities to better advantage, doing a relatively
small renovation project, a significant building addition, or relocating
to a new spiritual home. Ask them to include information about the need
to address any deferred maintenance projects.
The Fox Valley UU Fellowship at Appleton,
Wisc., is one of the fastest-growing Unitarian Universalist congregations,
going from around 100 members in 1990 to more than 450 today. Understandably,
it has faced times when it had to stretch its available building space.
In 1998 it built a building that included a fellowship hall, offices,
kitchen, and classrooms.
The fellowship hall was quickly full on Sunday mornings. Fox Valley
already had a second Sunday morning service and a second children's
religious education hour, and so it added a third service, this one
on Saturday, and a third RE hour.
Fox Valley is working on plans for a 500-seat sanctuary and an additional
program wing. The anticipated move-in date is January 2009. But until
then space will be tight. "We're having to be creative about office
space too," says the Rev. Roger Bertschausen. "Several people
are sharing offices, and a secretary has been moved into a photocopy
room. It's not ideal, but it's what we have to do."
Back in the fellowship hall, a way was found to rearrange the chairs,
boosting the number from 150 to 200, and that helped significantly.
"It amazed me," says Bertschausen. "The new arrangement
fit the room better, and no one would guess we have 50 more chairs."
In addition to stretching the available space, the third Saturday service
has turned into a bonus in other ways, says Bertschausen. "The
Saturday alternative has turned into very good family time, and we have
a large RE enrollment then."
Clark adds that it can take courage to ask questions that might lead
to better use of space rather than fulfill the dream of "building
a sparkling addition or a new facility. If the congregation has its
heart set on a major building project, it is hard to hear that there
may already be enough space and that the problem is just the use of
the space."
Alternatives to a major building project can be:
- Multiple worship services.
- Move groups to appropriate-sized rooms or divide large groups into
smaller ones.
- Rearrange or remove furniture.
- Build a storage facility to free up existing space.
- Use off-campus space for meetings.
- Provide a "park and ride" center with shuttle vans.
The book, When Not to Build: An Architect's Unconventional Wisdom
for the Growing Church, by Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall (Baker Books,
2005), offers, with a Christian perspective, ideas on how to make
current structures more user-friendly and includes a quiz about the
motivation to build.
Adds Clark, "Church facilities are only tools to help fulfill
the congregational mission. Spending less on facilities means there
is more to spend on programs and ministries."
April
2006 Index · Money Resources
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