Designing a Master Plan for your Church Design

When planning a big project like a new worship center, children's center or church relocation, having a master plan is the key to success. A master plan is a comprehensive analysis of long-term ministry strategies and how they interface with your land and development strategies.

Put more simply, to have a master plan means that you think long and hard about how the space is going to be used and how you can meet different needs for, as an example:

*Operational needs
*Ministry needs
*Demographic changes
*Financial needs
*Existing physical structures and land use
*Legal requirements
*Safety requirements

Knowing your current needs and thinking about what your future might require will make it a lot easier for you to plan your new church structure because you'll be able to develop something that is right for your congregation now and in the future.

While all this sounds pretty intimidating, pastors tend to have a pretty good instinctual feeling about how their church is used and how the population of the congregation has changed and will continue to change over time.

The major piece of the master planning puzzle that some churches have trouble with is the land use and legal aspect, that is, what your city or county will actually allow you to do with your land.

Even if you have a planning committee, they probably have spent a lot of time clarifying their dreams and goals for the new building but they probably aren't thinking a lot about those technical aspects that are so important to the actual physical development process.

At some point you have to combine these two aspects into a fully-fledged master plan that encompasses the whole world of details that need to be handled before your new church building can be realized.

Preparation and planning aren't very exciting, but they are absolutely crucial to the success of your project. A church is usually a large development that is subject to the same rules that a shopping center or any other building would be subject to. That means you have to follow the same zoning rules, safety and building codes and other regulations that any other development would.

If you're in the beginning stages of developing a new church building, make sure that you are taking into consideration all the pieces of the puzzle. Your new building needs to not only suit your needs and the needs of your congregation, but also the rules and regulations of the city or county and the wishes of the neighborhood in which the church is located.

Taking time to consider all the technical and legal aspects before a design for your new building is drawn will ensure you are going about things the right way with your church construction project.

Bruce Anderson is a nationally recognized church design and construction consultant and president of Build-Masters Group LLC. Visit his site for a free report, "The Top 10 Mistakes Pastors Make in Designing and Building Their Church…and How to Avoid Them."