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Besides "How much will it cost?" what do pastors most frequently ask about church construction? We asked six professionals in the church building industry for input. Some of the questions and answers:

What should we build first; a sanctuary, education building, or family life center?
That depends on the ministry, says Buddy Siebenlist of Paul & Associates/ Siebenlist Architects. But his experiences as an architect and church staffer have taught him that the sanctuary should be the primary consideration in any building campaign. "On absolutely every sanctuary project that we have done, the church has always experienced a tremendous attendance and membership boom," Siebenlist says. A growing church means a greater base of support for a larger budget and building fund, however. So Siebenlist suggests that the second and third building phase of a rapidly growing congregation be started soon after the completion of the sanctuary.

How many people should our new sanctuary seat?
Twice the number of people in your current building. That's a good rule of thumb, suggests Mark West, business development manager for Century Builders. But he adds, "Obviously this needs to be evaluated against the financial picture of the church." If your budget won't allow you to build a sanctuary that large, choose a design that will allow you to expand in the future.

How large a building do we need?
That depends on how much space you allocate per person, says Steve Beutler, vice president of Miracle Steel Structures. The formula he uses to compute the size of a church complex follows. Spread the calculations throughout the sanctuary, meeting rooms, nurseries, and educational space of your church complex:

How much parking space will we need?
Begin by checking city or county codes for church parking, West suggests. Then figure out your current parking ratio. "If your own ratio is lower than local code, we suggest you use it," he says. For example, a city code may require one parking space for every three seats in the sanctuary. That ratio would be 3:1. But if your actual ratio is 2.5:1, and your congregation is comfortable with that, you should stick with it. The usual seat-to-parking ratios used by churches are from 2:1 to 4:1, West says.

How long will it take to build?
Assuming you already own a site, allow two years for the planning, design, and construction of the facilities, West says. "Once the exact scope of the project is defined, a more definite schedule can be determined," he adds.

Mark Ryczek of Threshold Design says you should also factor in how much time it takes a congregation to make decisions. "You need one time frame in which to develop drawings and another in which to put up the building after getting support from the congregation," Ryczek says. Another key influence is whether this is new construction or a remodeling project. A suggested timetable for computing the time it will take to build:

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