GOING FORWARD CHANGE is the trend and FLEXIBLITY is the goal!

This post is offered to bring attention to the impact the pandemic of 2020 is having on The Church, and the decisions Church leaders are making in response.  Specifically, the response they are making about buildings, building processes, and the economic hardships that can accompany them.

The undisputed #1 trend for 2021 is CHANGE!

Because of recent events, change is not only expected but embrace by church leaders and followers alike.

Most leaders have re-evaluated their mission, methodologies, and resources. Strategic leaders are addressing changes to finances, facilities, and functionality.  Many have concluded they got caught flat footed and feel exposed in at least one of these areas.

The #2 trend is FLEXABILITY!

The pandemic has accelerated and exasperated everything in the Church.  Strategic leaders responded with innovative thinking.  Thus, one could say that The Churches response has been nothing short of amazing!

The mission is still the mission!  It will not change!  But the methodologies will and must change. Going forward Flex will be a verb of the church!  Churches that consistently innovate to new and effective methods will sustain advancements on mission.

Budgets and Buildings must be positioned for leadership to flex to new effective methods with as little constraint as possible.  But how does a building become a flexible tool?  Strategic leaders are demanding their facilities be as “innovatable” as the methods they envision in the future!

In 2020 the church attendance pendulum has swung from almost exclusively in-person meeting to almost exclusively digital meeting.  In 2021, the pendulum will settle nicely.  Strategic leaders will identify the most Kingdom-advancing practices of both and embrace them.  As Cary Nieuwhof says, “the era of set it and forget it strategy are over! Agility is far less exhausting than decline is.”

Here are 8 ways church facilities can flex to your newest and most effective methods:

Flex #1 – Be Transformed

Imagine how effective a church could be if they magically transformed any space into multiple uses – day to day, week to week, season to season, year to year!

The Transformers (toys and movie characters) for example made instant changes to be most effective where they are right now.  At one point they are robots and at another point they are a car, plane, gun, or animal.  They became whatever was necessary to win a new way.

Think worship center, to ESL classrooms to coffee house to business incubators…whatever your space needs to be to advance mission.

Flex #2 – Rightsizing Facilities

Imagine designing a smaller facility – having less or no debt, less maintenance expenses, but more uses!

In one form of rightsizing, large regional churches are trying to figure out what to do with space left vacant by new ministry models that attracted people to more and smaller community-centric facilities.  In another form of rightsizing, church architects and designers have learned the lessons and are designing spaces that are appropriately sized using extreme functionality.  More churches over build than under build – yet more square feet do not equal more ministry capacity.

Flex #3 – Save Money Now

Imagine redirecting scarce resources to mission rather than a building campaign!

The math gets easy now – smaller facilities are a lot less expensive to build, buildout or renovate.  Which means less capital funding up front, less leadership capital spent, and less lead time to launch.  Reaching the community quicker.

Flex #4 – Save money Later

Imagine the exponential savings in maintenance costs that could be made with a smaller, more effective facility over the course of the next 40+ years!

Tim Cool of Smart Church Solutions shares that, because of ongoing maintenance expense, the real cost of a facility usually will cost about 4x the amount it took build it.  Smaller FlexSpace facilities are the gift that keeps on giving.  A smaller footprint with simpler infrastructure will keep ongoing maintenance expenses lower for decades into the future.

Flex #5 – Trend Resistant

Imagine seeing a community need you can meet and being able to respond quickly, effectively, and with few speed bumps!

A Strategically led church is likely not doing ministry today the way they did 10, 5, or even just 3 years ago – pandemic or not! Do not let your future ministry innovation be held captive by the facility you have designed.

Flex #6 – Take it to the people!

Imagine being able to take the power of your worship room to an adjacent space, or outside, or across town.  We’re talking speakers, video, LED wall, control center, etc.

The days of “build it and they will come” are history (if it was ever true).  FlexSpace Design allows a room outfitted with great AVL gear for worship to be pulled and taken off-site into the community. The same thing goes for Hospitality and children’s ministry gear – perfect tools to be used across town or in the next room.

Flex #7 – Engage more and different people

Imagine creating spaces that attract people of different cultures, different interests, or having different needs!

Think of the different people-groups within 10 minutes of your facility:  Cultures with unique meeting needs, athletes, schools, civic interests, etc.  When a church facility is designed (to flex to your community) with a community centric focus in mind, you expand your capacity to be all things to all people so that by all means (or uses) you might save some.

Flex #8 – Show me the money!

Imagine adding another 10-20% on to your budget simply by making your facility available for outside groups!

Even the church needs revenue. FlexSpace Designs in a church allow you to transform all spaces making them available for revenue generating purposes.

Is the buildout of that new commercial space going to flex to your ministry methods for the next 20-40 years?  Consider FlexSpace – the intersection of a permanent facility with portable flexibility!

If these points ring a bell with you – connect with one of our FlexSpace Design experts here. We’d love to hear your story and partner with you!

Good news – Portable churches are meeting live again!

It has still been slow in coming but the momentum can be felt across the country now. Like light at the end of this COVID tunnel, our teams are being asked by church planters and multisite leaders about what seems to be working. Many have been waiting and watching as others ‘go first’… we are now feeling that others are optimistic and taking the next step.

So here are 7 observations from the world of today’s portable church!

1. The new front door

Digital is a HUGE new front door to your church. People investigating a church start digitally. They used to just check out the website. Now through social media, they have easy access to what your church and see what it ‘feels’ like through your streaming services. And churches have upped their digital game!

However, it has been made clear that digital is not going to permanently replace live. It lacks the full expression and power of the church body. There will always be something significant in gathering live that absolutely cannot be replaced.

Looking forward: Do not fall back into the trap of making you digital audience a secondary focus. It’s a huge front door and a way many will continue to connect with you.

2. Be relevant more often than just on Sunday!

Churches are still seeing great success at connecting with the church through midweek ‘check ins’, vision casting and/or devotionals. Some have the lead pastor reaching out each week, mid-week, some mix it up having elders, other pastoral staff or leaders join in.

One church we spoke with recently talked about the great success they had individually calling their entire database to check in on everyone and they are planning to continue these check ins. They have been highly effective and is resulting in a deeper engagement by members and attenders alike.

Looking forward: Plan for a process of personal check in by phone, text or other form of communication throughout the year. Review the effectiveness regularly with the leadership team and be flexible as to what you want out of these touchpoints.

3. Digital is not naturally friendly to the friendly church

Some church leaders are ROCKSTARS at embracing those that walk through the doors and making them feel loved – like the long-lost friend they had not met yet.  A hospitality driven church or pastor who is gifted with warmth, personality, and genuine deep-felt hospitality may not have gifts that translate digitally over a streaming network.

A church with a strong digital presence is likely aided by great performance – yes in worship, but even more so with the delivery of The Gospel. The problem is that there are a ton of performances for people to choose from.

Looking forward:  To navigate the “phygital” balance well, churches are using the chat feature during services, having their best engagers asking deep/thoughtful questions, giving well thought answers, offering offline text connections to deepen budding relationships. A second yet equally effective opportunity is to host “First Time Visitor” digital classes – giving out $5-10 Starbucks cards (via the Starbucks APP). For example, if your church is strong in family ministry, continue emphasizing opportunities available through your digital channel. Drop off a note talking about being all about families and give them coupons to free sundaes at a local place for their family.

4. Consider new launch methods

Several church planting organizations are advocating that launching a new church digitally before physically is going to be a wave of the future. Simply put, a core team is developed using both face-to-face AND digital methods. That core team helps network and launch the digital expression.

Geo-target the city through social channels:

• Use to publicize what you are about and launch your interest meetings
• Use to showcase sample teaching
• Launch digitally and build momentum and attendance size
• After many months, then launch a physical expression

This is the Amazon strategy…. The church becomes well known and familiar digitally, and then launches a physical expression that is everything and more than the digital engagement promised.

5. Churches burdened with debt are moving out and going portable

While this offers a “church reset” of sorts, it also has great potential of reactivating people that have been lost in the pews.

6. Churches that were portable going permanent

While this makes our Portable Church Team sad… we also get excited that the portability strategy has been successful at developing great momentum – enough to plant long lasting roots!

The COVID Crisis has changed things. Some of those changes are good and some just are not!  The real estate market for newly available commercial properties will see an up-tick as some businesses just won’t survive.  Likewise, and unfortunately, some churches won’t survive as well. To that end, it is being forecasted that there will be an increased number of churches that will merge, most of which will involve worship facilities of some sort.

Many well-managed churches will be able to respond appropriately and make the jump into better facilities or into a multisite strategy.

7. Considering the venue as a tool

Soon, we will launch another blog that addresses various venue types that are working well when schools are just not available. The adage is true, “necessity is the mother of invention!” The need to meet again is getting churches to become innovative… thinking outside the box. Indeed, some facility-types (High School, Middle School, YMCA, Theater) are more ideal for meeting spaces. However, as these natural rental facilities aren’t available churches are considering and finding some amazing alternatives.

The shutdown has prompted many leaders in the church to consider the effectiveness of their ministry. There have been changes in leadership, ministry methods, discipleship, and evangelistic outreach. In some cases, there have been wholesale changes to financial fitness and the role that property plays as tools in the ministry.  On the journey back to “normal” (whatever that was), churches are evaluating it all!  As Peyton Jones from Exponential states “Churches are still born out of a desire to draw a crowd, but the future belongs not to churches that can draw a crowd, but churches that can penetrate one.” 

What do you think? What are you seeing as new trends and future trends? Comment below!