by Gayla R. Postma

Before you start planning renovations, Christopher Kidd suggests asking a trained architect or contractor to do an accessibility survey of your building. "This person can itemize where your building is deficient according to handicap codes, especially those of the ADA," says Kidd of Taylor, Kidd, and Associates Architects in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Once the survey is done, you can prioritize the areas that need to be renovated, taking into account factors such as local building codes.

Before finalizing the list, you should see how reprogramming might solve some of the accessibility problems. "Challenge how facilities are being used in spaces such as the balcony or basement," says Todd Brown of Brown Church Development Group in Holdrege, Nebraska. "Try to reprogram so that people who need access won't have to go to those spaces. Moving the fellowship hall from the basement to the main floor of the church is one easy solution."

Bruce Wardell of Bruce R. Wardell Architects in Charlottesville, Virginia, affirms that kind of thinking. "There are administrative ways to be come accessible," he says. "If you have a fourth-grader in a wheelchair, you can make sure the room used by that class is on an accessible level."

If your building has more than one level, however, you might eventually need an elevator. "That is probably going to be the most satisfactory solution in the long run, but it's also the most expensive," Wardell says.

The cost of an elevator will vary, depending on what kind you choose and where you install it. For example, installing an elevator on the outside of a building is less expensive than making room for it inside. But an elevator won't necessarily solve all of a church's accessibility problems because old buildings often have lots of levels in various parts of their complexes.

Bruce Wardell's company did something similar. Wardell says adding to the front and back of the church was like putting a new overcoat on it.

The decision of what to build first really depends on the vision of the congregation. "Building a facility for a congregation is like designing a tool," Wardell says. "You have to understand what the tool will be used for before you design it."

Brown agrees that the choice of what to build first must be driven by the ministry of the church. "Most churches need to start with some sort of multipurpose facility because of cost," he says. "If you are on a budget, you have to make more use of each space."

A flexible facility allows a congregation to use the same space for worship, education, and fellowship. It also keeps the church's options open, Beutler says. A multipurpose building can also be converted as the need arises. What functions now as a gathering area can be converted later into a sanctuary. Eventually, a separate sanctuary can be built next to the old one and the multipurpose space turned into a gymnasium or recreational facility.

A Sprung structure is also ideal as an interim solution while a church is building because it can be put up rapidly on a parking lot or concrete slab. "Pour a slab, run heating, ventilation and plumbing. It is as temporary or as permanent as you want it to be, depending on how you build it," Avery says. It's also economic—up to 50 percent less than a conventional building. Avery believes this kind of structure is the church of the future because it allows congregations to spend more money on ministry than on buildings.

Beutler can relate to that. "Churches are telling us that the added cost of ornate looks is better spent on programs," he says.

Kidd thinks that churches of the future won't look much like churches at all. "We're seeing buildings that are extremely functional," he says. "We're designing buildings that are used for worship and athletic events, lecture events, and fellowship events. They're really diversified spaces." Newer churches are looking more like auditoriums than rectangles topped by steeples, he says. The outside is a reflection of what's going inside the building. Form is following function, rather than the other way around.

Brown agrees with that assessment. He sees churches of the future looking more like a mall or what's inside a mall. "There's a movement of people wanting to worship God in a more contemporary fashion," he says. He sees tomorrow's church as a one-level structure with a large atrium, a Starbucks coffee shop, and maybe even a restaurant and shops. "It will become a place for friends to meet, very much like the mall," he says. "You come to the church for Bible study, but you can also get coffee and a bagel." It's a safe, friendly environment for all people: Christian or nonChristian.

Wardell agrees that churches need multiple-use spaces to use their finances efficiently. But worship space must also provide some contrast to our culture, he believes. "One of the reasons medieval cathedrals were so glorious was that the population as a whole was not very well-educated," he says. "The stained glass and symbolism became a method of teaching church lessons. Peasants would come in from dreary living circumstances, and the opulence of the cathedral would be like a physical manifestation of heaven on earth."

The reverse is true in our culture. "Our secular culture is so enormous, with its movie theaters, baseball stadiums, and Las Vegas resorts," Wardell says. He believes churches should distinguish between worship space and multipurpose facilities. "On one level, holding everything in one room works, but when you come into a space dedicated for corporate worship, it has to be somehow set apart," he says. "Maybe the worship spaces have to be so simple that they set themselves in contrast to the peripatetic culture around us."

Gayla R. Postma (postma@mor-net.on.ca) is a freelance writer living in Morrisburg, Ontario.

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