If more space is needed in the next 2 to 3 Years, Better Start Now! Many pastors, if asked the question if there is anything about their existing church campus that is hindering their ministry or capping their growth, would say YES! If you are a pastor or leader in your church reading this now, you probably already have some idea of what your greatest pain points are in your ministry facilities.
Maybe you need more seats and space for worship, which typically leads to more parking and other considerations. It may be that your church has a lot of young families and more children’s ministry space is needed or that the student ministry is lacking a space they can make their own. Or it could be you just need to freshen up dated and tired looking areas of your campus.
If you already know you have these needs, and have a compelling WHY for launching into a building program, then it is probably not too soon to assemble a team to begin exploring what that looks like for your church.
How Long Will It Take?
I’ve found most church pastors and leaders know intuitively it takes a “long time” but often don’t realize HOW long. As a result, it is not unusual to see church leadership underestimate the time and effort and wait too long to start. But, do you know how long it actually takes from the time you begin planning a new facility to the time you can actually use it? While smaller less complicated projects, like build-outs of an existing building or interior renovations, can take significantly less time, most projects will take 2 to 3 years from the time the Project Vision is developed to the time you can actually use the space. The graphic below illustrates major phases of the process, but each phase has many sub-phases and activities that involve many players including the pastor, executive pastor, church staff, key leaders, committees, owner representative, architect, civil engineer, environmental consultant, landscape architect, interior designer, acoustical engineer, mechanical/electrical engineers, and many others. Your site is a huge factor in the process and how long it takes. If you are building on a new site, or even expanding your existing campus, there can be a longer process and especially if it involves complex governmental approvals such as rezoning, long site plan approval times, environmental issues, neighborhood issues, roads and traffic controls, utilities, etc. These complications can add many months to the process. Other factors include project leadership expertise and planning, committee structure & leadership, the decision-making process, the capital campaign process, other funding sources, selecting the best team for your unique project (architect, contractor, etc.), and the project delivery method. This timeline is based on bringing the contractor on board soon after the Architect versus after the project is fully designed. These are some of the biggest factors that impact your overall project schedule, but there are countless other ways that your project timeline can be affected. The good news is that there are also ways to manage the schedule to achieve the best outcome, but that is a bigger topic for another blog!
