your church growth resource

Help us become your resource as you think about how to better utilize your facilities. Email us your comments or questions and let us know what would benefit you in your preparation for a building project. Our vision is to create this online resource to help you think of the hows, the whys, and the why nots.

References

"Billy was great! He was enthusiastic in working with us. And, his passion for the Church is evident. We are a non-traditional church, and he really listened to our needs and desires. He designed a building that was just right for us. I highly recommend him."
Tim Stagner, Pastor
Vineyard Church Springfield, MO

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

When is the best time to build?

If you had asked me this question a month ago, I would have said, "the Spring of course". Everything is turning green and there is plenty of time to get a building closed in before the cold of winter hits. At least in Southwest Missouri, winter is not something you want to mess with (remember back to the ice storms of 2007?). Summer has many benefits, but everyone else has the same idea and so the construction workload can sometimes get saturated (there's irony to that you'll read about later) which can have an effect on construction pricing.

In the case of one church client, they wanted to be in their new worship center by Christmas, and so Spring seemed to be the perfect time to begin construction...or so we thought.

Unfortunately, even in all its luster, Spring can be a very wet time of the year. I guess the phrase "April showers bring May flowers" has a very direct message that should be cautioned. I suppose beginning construction on April 1 should have been a sign that flirting with Spring was a dangerous thing. And perhaps construction was saturated after all and we spent nearly six weeks figuring that out.

So when is the best time to build? I guess my answer is, "when God is moving". Just as God never promised us that the Christ-filled life would be free from struggle, other efforts in the Christian ministry are not met without challenges. I am sure Satan is working very hard to see to it that ministry is met with many challenges. When God moves in your church, I say respond with earnest and trust that He will handle all of the details, "for tomorrow will bring its own worries".

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