If you build it, they will come?
I'm here in Indianapolis at a church facilities conference (wfxweb.com). There are some impressive and expensive church buildings in this country. I toured one yesterday that was finished last year and cost $30 million. It was stunning to say the least, and most definitely useful.
There is an emphasis on meeting the needs of today's American culture. An increasingly connected, visual audience apparently (based on the conference) "needs" multimillion dollar, multimedia experiences driven by the latest technologies.
The four of us attending the conference have talked over meals and during breaks about CBC. We've identified that there are definitely things we can accomplish in our current facilities and as we dream we wonder what we could accomplish in a new building.
Should we build a new building? What would a new building have? How can we best reach Woodbridge? What is the purpose of a church building? How can we do church most effectively?
There are so many questions. Ultimately, we want to glorify God, but how? What are your thoughts on buildings? I have tons of thoughts about this and perhaps will write a longer post later. For now, I just want to get a conversation started.
Comments
I know I have a concern with building something that is only used for worship services and even a big building when you could make the case that we could use the money for missions or relief of the needy but again go back to the temple or synogogue.
I think having a facility that is multipurpose and a gathering place for the community is a proper expenditure of money as long as we're not making monument to our own greatness. Notice that most of us elders refrain from calling the multipurpose room the "sanctuary" because it isn't a sanctuary. CBC facilities are simply a tool and meeting place for us to assemble in and use for ministry. Could we do that by renting a facility? I suppose, but we wouldn't have free reign to do as we wish because we don't own the facility.