Whatever the churches in your neighborhood look like, stop for a moment, and consider the church that isn’t there. At least, that isn’t there yet. What will it look like? Who will attend? What will its relationship be with the people who live, work, and play in your zip code? How will it be built to reflect the values of those pastoring and attending the community? These are the questions more than a thousand church planters wrestled at the NewThing Gathering and Exponential Chicago, both hosted at Community Christian Church’s Yellow Box location in Naperville, Illinois, recently.

Aspen’s 2018 Alignment Conference is in the books! On Tuesday, October 16, 2018, we greeted pastors and church leaders from the Southeast, Midwest, and even Canada for our one-day annual learning event. This year's theme focused on "Building Your Church for Community Impact."

A church building is more than a place of worship. It’s more than a multipurpose space or classrooms. The building is the body language of the church. Everything about the space communicates who the church is.

On Tuesday, October 16, Aspen Group will host its annual Alignment Conference at Community Christian Church in Plainfield, Illinois. This year’s one-day learning experience for senior pastors, executive pastors, and key ministry leaders will focus on “Building Your Church for Community Impact.”

When churches embark on a building project, the focus of the building committee is typically on getting the most amount of square footage at the cheapest price. Spending money on architecture and interior design often seems frivolous, a poor use of ministry resources. Churches want to spend money on missional activities, like serving the community, and every dollar that goes toward a building robs the church of resources for ministry impact. Or so the thinking goes.

Orland Park Christian Reformed Church (OPCRC) in Orland Park, Illinois, was built in 1970, and over the past three decades, the church building has undergone three major additions (see Facility History image).

Your church has decided it’s ready to renovate or build a new facility. Your next big decision will be to determine who you’ll hire as your church building partner. Many church bylaws and rules of governance dictate a due diligence process that includes soliciting multiple firms with a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) as a primary means for comparing building partners.

Many studies have been conducted and much has been written exploring the trend of Millennials (born roughly 1980-2000) leaving the church. A survey done by Barna Group, for instance, shows that between high school and age 30, 43% of Millennials who were once active in their faith have stopped attending church regularly. Additionally, more than 50% of these young adults with a Christian background say they are less active in the church compared to when they were 15.

What makes your church your church? The distinctive elements within your building that tell the story of who you are as a faith community? Kevin Miller, Senior Pastor at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, Illinois, shares insights he gleaned from his own experience leading his previous church—Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois—through a major adaptive reuse building project. He explores three keys for discovering the essential elements that make your church distinct in a video series titled, “Telling Your Church’s Unique Story.”

Aspen Group engaged with West Bridge Church in 2014 to determine the feasibility of expanding and renovating their current facility. Located about 20 miles outside of Indianapolis in the small but growing town of Danville, Indiana, West Bridge Church continues to attract young families. With two Sunday services averaging nearly 500 in attendance, church leaders wanted to find ways to enhance their facility so that it could serve as a strategic ministry tool. What began as a project to add sanctuary seats for adults, quickly turned into a focus on making space for future growth and outreach to kids.