Faced with the costs of a building project, many churches go into “blueprint shock,” somewhat akin to “sticker shock” for new-car buyers. With costs close to $80 per square foot, growing churches are looking for alternatives to construction. Here are some of the creative approaches.
Extra use from present space
The most cost-effective alternative is to maximize the use of the present facility.
Russell Rosser pastors First Baptist Church in Flushing, New York, which has grown to nearly a thousand in a plant where the sanctuary holds four hundred. Every square foot gets multiple use. A secretary’s desk is in the hall, worship overflow space is used by four classes during Sunday school, and a congregation of two hundred meets in the basement while another congregation of five hundred fills the sanctuary and overflow.
“Our congregation is committed to utilizing facilities rather than protecting them,” Rosser explains. “We had to give up the fortress mentality. It’s impossible for groups or individuals to ‘protect their turf’ here, because so many people use the same turf. For instance, teachers have given up storage closets. That means the rooms don’t always look neat because there isn’t a place to put everything away. But we feel ministry is more important than keeping toys in order. Once people become committed to the bigger picture-reaching out-they can share facilities. We can replace a carpet that’s getting worn; we don’t have to guard it.”
That commitment begins with Rosser and the staff. Some offices at First Baptist contain day beds or couches, allowing them to double as bedrooms at night for interns and visiting missionaries. The same offices, with the addition of a few chairs, become classrooms several times a week. “When the pastor models this freedom from ownership,” Rosser reasons, “it’s easier for the rest of the church.”
Renting commercial space
With the burgeoning cost of land and construction, especially in rapid-growth areas, some churches have chosen to lease space.
School districts vary in their receptivity, but in some communities, an overflowing church can lease several schoolrooms for around $100 a Sunday. New churches often begin in a school; mature churches can use schools for expansion space.
For years, Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles leased classrooms and parking from two nearby private schools. No one found it particularly convenient to walk down the street to get to class, but the church could continue to grow.
Other churches need to lease space for all their activities. Jim Carpenter, who planted Chino (California) Fellowship Baptist Church, tells his story: “Three to five years into a new church’s life, people get restless; they want to feel permanent. If they just rent space for Sunday, they feel vaguely unsettled-especially the pastor. When we came to that point, we didn’t have the capital for land or buildings. But I discovered a half dozen congregations were leasing warehouse space in local industrial parks. The new ’tilt-up construction’ warehouses were ideal shells they could customize to their needs.”
Fellowship Baptist eventually leased a 6,600-square-foot warehouse for $2,300 a month (about 35 cents a square foot). Adding partitions to the sixteen-foot-high building, they used about half for worship space and half for classrooms and an office. Some twenty-foot tilt-ups even allow for a second story. Carpenter’s congregation had to meet local fire codes by installing solid-core doors and panic hardware, and neighboring businesses had to grant permission for cars to use their parking on Sunday. But all told, the conversion was relatively painless, though the approach does have its drawbacks.
“Warehouses leak,” Carpenter warns. “We had a downpour the first Sunday after we painted the sanctuary, and one wall was turned into a waterfall. A warehouse is also hard to heat and cool. We finally settled on a powerful gas heater and a couple of industrial-grade ‘swamp coolers’ for summer. They cost about a quarter of a forced-air system.”
Location is also important. “People have to be convinced it isn’t weird to drive to church in an industrial zone, so it’s important to find one that is easily accessible,” says Carpenter. “And it takes selling the idea to people who have never considered it. I took our leaders to several warehouse churches in the area over three or four months to give them an idea of what I was proposing and to let it sink in.”
Some churches have grown large in such facilities. Calvary Community Church in Thousand Oaks, California, runs about 2,500 on Sunday mornings, and they’ve chosen to remain in a warehouse. They purchased property a while back but voted not to proceed with building at that time. They were still happy in their warehouse.
“One pastor who’s presently leasing a warehouse,” says Carpenter, “claims if he had the funds, he’d buy land and build an industrial building because it is so quick and inexpensive.”
Renting church space
Other tenant arrangements have also worked. North Coast Evangelical Free Church in Oceanside, California, has been a tenant several times over. It began in a home, then rented space in a women’s club, outgrew that, and then relocated to a school. Yet the school proved a poor landlord. The congregation didn’t appreciate worshiping in a cafeteria among the remains of a food fight.
With the philosophy that staff, not buildings, grows churches, that’s where they decided to invest their money. “We were looking to hire leaders for our staff,” says Pastor Larry Osborne, “and you have to pay for leaders. But God blessed us with a new facility to lease-the local Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Since they meet on Saturday, Sunday was available for us.”
The arrangement offers several benefits. “By locating in a church building, our congregation has gained a sense of legitimacy; we seem more solid. We have a new, permanent-looking sign out front that announces our presence.
“We also have a building suited specifically for our needs-offices, worship space, classrooms, and meeting rooms. We now average about 320, but the church can accommodate up to 900, so there is plenty of growing room.”
Recently the host church added eight classrooms, more office space, and a gym. The Free Church’s seven-year lease will help retire their debt, so both congregations are enjoying facilities better than either could afford separately.
Of course, churches, like college roommates, have to learn to get along. The landlord’s taste in architecture, organ, sound systems, and interior decorating may differ from the tenant’s. And the lessors always hold a slight edge over the lessees, no matter how cordial the relationship.
“We miss the availability of the sanctuary on Saturdays for weddings,” Osborne comments. “But since our program is decentralized, we haven’t experienced much calendar conflict with the other church. Most of our activities take place in people’s homes during the week.”
Another congregation, Grace Presbyterian Church, has had a similar arrangement in Sacramento, California, with Arden Christian Church.
“We are committed to the good stewardship of sharing the building. We have members who actually joined for this reason, and some would leave if we bought our own property,” says Pastor Mark Galli. “We hold Sunday school while they worship, and they have classes while we worship. A third congregation, Church of God, Seventh Day, worships on Saturday.”
Galli says the “marriage” is not without its disagreements, but “they are gracious hosts, and we are nice tenants. In the main office we have a master calendar with three colored pens, one for each congregation. Basically it is first-come, first-served for the use of rooms. Of course, if someone has a pressing need, everything becomes negotiable. You learn to work out your disagreements.”
Galli laments the forced brevity of their worship service-fifty to fifty-five minutes-but he’s not too sure his people mind! He also senses the confusion visitors have when they first visit.
“Visitors have to be on the ball,” he chuckles, “or they end up in the wrong congregation.”
Other drawbacks? “We probably lack a measure of identity by being here. Unless a church has something unique about it, it’s easy to be subsumed by the larger congregation. I’m sure some people have not visited us because they don’t consider us ‘established’ enough without our own building.”
Still, Galli sees the bright side. “I don’t need to concern myself with the building. If the roof leaks, it’s not my problem. If the carpet wears out, I don’t have to worry about it. That gives me more time to focus on more important aspects of ministry, such as evangelism and church growth.”
Using modular space
For several years public schools in California, too strapped to build new schools, have used mobile classrooms. Dual units of steel construction, measuring nearly a thousand square feet, equipped with blackboards, fire alarms, and air conditioning, cost around $25,000 to buy (about $25 per square foot), including delivery and set up, or about $4,000 per year to lease (about $4 per square foot per year).
Churches, too, have utilized portable modular units. In the late seventies, New Hope Methodist-Presbyterian Church in North Pole, Alaska, was tipped off by another church about the sale of modular buildings used by the company building the Alaska pipeline. For $16,000, New Hope purchased six, ten-by-fifty units ($5.30 per square foot). Connected, they provide 3,000 square feet for a sanctuary, two offices, a nursery, a fellowship hall/Sunday school area, and restrooms.
The original plan was to use the units temporarily before building a permanent structure. The church has grown so quickly, however, that it now plans to erect a multi-purpose sanctuary and fellowship hall (costing up to $110 per square foot) and keep the modular units for offices and classrooms.
“The units were well insulated for our subarctic climate,” says Pastor Keith Wise, “so our heating costs are not that bad. We added carpeting and incandescent lighting to make them more livable. Still, the units were designed to provide temporary housing for the pipeline company, and they look like trailers. Visitors comment that our building looks more like ‘a bunch of white trailers in the trees’ than a traditional church. But once they have worshiped with us, the fellowship shows them what a real church is, anyway.”
Whether temporary or permanent, modular units can benefit churches. Unlike fixed structures, portables are more easily resold, allowing a church to regain much of its original investment. Churches can find more information by looking in the Yellow Pages under “Buildings-Pre-Cut, Prefabricated & Modular” or “Buildings-Portable.”
Engineering combinations
In a rapidly growing Chicago suburb, Sigval Berg, Jr., pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Naperville, hit upon a unique way to house the many activities of his congregation. Sig met with the abbot of a nearby Roman Catholic abbey and explained how he was working to found a church.
The abbot thought a while and replied, “People talk about ecumenism all the time but do very little about it. Come and use our facilities. They’re free.” With that generous gesture, Good Shepherd had a home for Sunday worship services.
Next they needed Sunday school space. Illinois Benedictine College was right across the street, and for a nominal $50 a week, Berg arranged to use as many classrooms as he needed. But there were still the midweek meetings. Berg arranged to use a Roman Catholic parish’s facilities for new members’ classes and women’s meetings, and a friendly Lutheran church made available its kitchen for men’s breakfasts and its sanctuary for weddings.
Spread out over town, Good Shepherd yet needed a mailing address and office space. They found a professional office suite to rent for a dollar a square foot per month, including all utilities. The 1,600-square-foot suite houses a reception area, two offices for staff, and a meeting room. Located in an attractive area, this facility gives the church a measure of visibility in the community.
“We could have rented less-desirable space for half to two-thirds the cost,” Berg estimates, “but we wouldn’t have been as satisfied. Industrial space just didn’t seem conducive to our relational ministries. We wanted something warm and inviting-with a professional look about it.”
This creative package won’t last indefinitely.
“In our culture,” observes Berg, “it seems a church can operate in ‘temporary facilities’ only so long. One expert told us thirty-six months should be our maximum. People outside the church-the uncommitted, whom we are trying to reach-think a ‘real’ church should have a building. If you stay too long in this gray area, it becomes counterproductive.
“And like newlyweds who have moved in with the in-laws, we can’t maintain our present arrangement forever. Those who have given us space have been superb, but we don’t want to overstay our welcome. We have land now, and we should be in our own facility by March 1988.”
Growth costs. But it need not drain a congregation financially or hinder its ability to reach out. With a little creativity, congregations are meeting their growth needs-without the expense of building.
-James D. Berkley
Copyright © 1987 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
