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Churches in the United States spent about $7 billion on church buildings in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But did these churches construct new facilities or add to existing ones? Building on their current property or elsewhere? What prompted these projects?

In early 2010, Christianity Today International and Cornerstone Knowledge Network attempted to answer questions like these by co-sponsoring a survey on ministry facilities expansion trends titled, "Does More Space Mean Better Ministry?" The goal of the survey was to better understand how churches view their ministry space and to gauge their feelings about recent ministry space expansion. The study also attempted to identify correlations between the types of expansion, church growth rate, and makeup of growth. For churches that have not expanded, the study explored what elements of their ministry space they would most want to expand if they could.

Of the 1,126 "qualified respondents"—those who identified themselves as a pastor, business administrator, board member, elder, member of a building committee, a facilities or operations manager, or director—three-fourths said their church expanded its ministry space.

For 350 of those respondents, this expansion took place in the last three years. Of that group, 38 percent said they built a new facility on existing property, 20 percent relocated to a different facility, and 10 percent built a new facility in a new location. The average worship attendance of these churches was 346, but 58 percent report average attendance of 200 or less.

The Salina Bible Church, located in Salina, Pennsylvania, draws more than 200 attenders for its weekend worship services, and it is in the process of expanding its ministry space. The church's three-phase expansion plan began with the construction of a multi-purpose facility that will allow for additional seating for worship while doubling as a gymnasium and fellowship hall during the week. The second phase will provide a new worship facility, Sunday school rooms, and office space. And the final stage involves converting the current church facility into a Christian school.

Phase one will cost about $800,000, and Senior Pastor Paul Reiner says the church does not plan to continue its expansion until the cost of the first phase has been covered. "So as not to incur debt," says Reiner, "phase two begins when phase one has been paid for."

Riverchase United Methodist Church, in Hoover, Alabama, is preparing to vote on an expansion proposal that would provide necessary updates for its growing congregation. Riverchase, located in Birmingham's largest suburb, averages more than 1,600 people each weekend. For the last decade, Riverchase's attendance has risen.

Senior Pastor Jim Savage says the proposed expansion will better meet the needs for children, youth, and parking, and it will improve the traffic flow inside and outside the church.

"We do not have enough Sunday school rooms for children," Savage says. "On Wednesday evenings, the youth do not have a good place to meet. Our main entrance has a terrible blind hill and some folks are so afraid of it, they refuse to enter our property from that direction."

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