Our guests bring up how the recent rise of “multi-site services,” linked by various communication technologies, are reshaping the design of churches, with a tendency towards building (or renting) more structures as compared to building megachurch building that can seat thousands of attendees. Many congregations that are breaking ground on a new site are often asked to help develop some of the infrastructure in the surrounding area (e.g., roads, sidewalks).
Our conversation covers a number of other features that go into the planning stage such as the visibility of the church in the community, how much land will be needed, what can realistically be built on that land, and various governmental regulations that need to be met. We note how sensitive a few miles or the need to drive around a lake can affect who attends a church. This latter analysis includes mapping out where congregants are coming from, what physical barriers are in the way of the planned site (e.g., a lake), and whether there are other demographic shifts in the area that would affect the size of the church’s membership. A conversation needs to be held as to what the congregation’s mission and top priorities are, and then an assessment of current use, growth trends, and the church’s “DNA” should be conducted. Kerry and Dirk detail some of the first steps that a congregation has to go through in thinking about what the appropriate structure would be for their intended use. Although our discussion here is a bit facetious, Kerry points out that it is not uncommon for pastors and boards of elders to come to their company with architectural plans already drawn up, and that these plans often are too ambitious either for the finances that the congregation has or the land that they intend to use. Fortunately, both Dirk and Kerry know better and tell him to slow down and start with a preliminary consultation to develop a plan.
Tony then presents these gentlemen with his own plan to build a cute, little New England-style church and demands to get it up and running in a few weeks. Our conversation begins by getting a bit of background on our two guests and a brief history of Goff Companies. Dalhousser serves as a project architect and Rev. What factors go into deciding how large the building should be, what types of space should be included in the interior, and how many parking spaces need to be allotted for peak use? To answer these questions and more, we are joined by Dirk Dalhausser and Kerry Jones from Goff Companies, a national church planning, construction, and real estate business headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Have you ever wanted to build a church? And by “building a church,” we’re talking about the physical building that houses the congregation.
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