When Not to Build, Part 2

Ray Bowman, author of When Not to Build, has posed an interesting set of 15 questions to help your church understand the true motives for building. I'll let you read the questions on your own, but here is a summary of the principles behind them.

There are three general situations in which it is a mistake to build - when a church's reason for building is wrong, when there is a better way to meet space needs, and when building would risk financial bondage. Together, these three areas suggest the following positive principles:

1. The Principle of Focus - A church should build only when it can do so without shifting its focus from ministering to people to building a building.


2. The Principle of Use - A church needs more space only when it is fully using the space it already has.


3. The Principle of Provision - A church should build only when it can do so within the income God had provided and without using funds needed for the church's present and future ministries to people.

Generally speaking, these are three principles that JH Batten follows in our conversations with churches. We've gathered them all together in an internal phrase that we use in our meetings: We won't let churches walk off the end of the pier. It's a guiding framework that helps us to look at the total scope of the church's ministries first, and then work with the church to determine if a building will be a help - or a hindrance - to the continued health of the church.

If you are interested in engaging me in a conversation about your ministry, give me a shout. If you want to dive deeper into Bowman's work, I have two extra copies of his book that I will send to the first two persons who request it.

Remember, buildings are tools for the use of your ministry. Properly utilized, this tool will help you create a ministry work of art. Incorrectly used, they have the potential to be hazardous to the health!