In one sense, I'm unqualified to write an article about church building programs. I've never had any training in construction. My seminary experience was sadly lacking in instruction on building codes, labor law, and money markets.

However, as an amateur who's found himself involved in one minor and two major church building projects in the last four years, I have learned some things. My qualifications:

• In 1980, our church added eighteen hundred square feet to the Christian education and fellowship hall.

• In 1982, we converted one of the rooms added in the 1980 expansion into a modern kitchen.

• In 1983, we expanded our sanctuary by sixteen hundred square feet to more than double our seating capacity.

My purpose in writing this article is to help you recognize and overcome some building blocks should you some day find yourself up to your ears in blueprints and sawdust. Building blocks naturally fall into four categories: people, money, plans, and construction.