Checklist: Points to Consider

Steps in Constructing a Church Building

Seek God’s Leading in Projecting Your Mission and Ministries.

God calls each of us to mission. We must be willing to discern the vision
God has for us and the Church.

Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

Each church needs to formulate its goals and purposes clearly.  Clear goals and plans for your church will provide a clearer understanding of the kind of space and budget that will be needed to carry out your ministry.

Discover Who You Are and the Nature of Your Community.

To build wisely demands a good understanding of your church and the factors that affect your ministries. You will need to ask questions about your church.  For example, what are our membership and attendance trends? Or, Who may be looking to us for hope? Because a church does not exist in a vacuum, you will need to find out what is happening in the surrounding community: significant population trends, income levels, economic trends, community needs, and more. Gathering data and carefully studying it can help your church see the future more clearly.

Determine Your Resources.

There is a definite need for faith in the developing of a new building. It will take time, effort and prayer to secure the kind of facility that will serve your ministry now and in the years to come.

There is also the need for understanding the resources of your congregation that will be required to build a new facility. A realistic budget, balancing program, staffing, mission and capital expenses, is essential if your church is to avoid expensive redesigning because the projected building cost was beyond your capacity.

If it is necessary for your church to seek a loan to construct a building—and it is necessary for most churches—it will be important to understand the need for a well-planned capital fund program.

With the help of an ABEC Loan, Canaan Baptist Church, Wilmington, DE,
completed construction. With that expansion, the size of the church quadrupled.
Investments in ABEC Notes make growth like this possible.

Seek Assistance from Design Professionals.

An architect does more than merely draw plans. He or she is skilled in developing space/need relationships. A competent architect can take a description of projected ministries and translate it into a design for the space needed for them to happen. The architect also has access to engineers who can evaluate existing structures as they relate to proposed new additions. You will want to spend time evaluating recommendations of potential architects and interviewing several before making your choice.

Make Building Contracts with a Reputable, Bondable Contractor.

A common approach to the construction of a church building is to select a general contractor on the basis of the lowest overall bid for the job. The contractor must be bonded to complete the project as specified in the contract. It is important to have your church attorney review any building contract before it is signed.