Featured Story

The Word On Seeker Design by Carol Badaracco Padgett

If you build it, will they come? The "it" being a seeker-focused facility that fulfills a church's ministry objectives. And the "they" being the unchurched or disenfranchised of a community, or those who have simply been out of the church loop for so long that they never thought they'd come back again. Yet, most everyone eventually seeks to fill a spiritual need.

Features

Signs of the Times by Carolyn Heinze

There once was a time when pencils and paper-based calendars were the tools of choice for scheduling, and a marker and poster board was the way churches announced events to their congregations. While some organizations continue to apply these methods, an increasing number are turning to a combination of software or hardware-based systems to keep track of the goings-on in their facilities, and to advertise these activities to their memberships through digital signage technology.

Departments

Oh Where Shall We Meet? by David Smith

I remember the day I realized that the search for a facility was getting to me. I was back in Indianapolis for the North American Christian Convention. Our family had moved from Indianapolis to Nashua, New Hampshire in February 1995 to plant a church. Having spent the previous months scouring Nashua for a place from which to launch the new work, I was looking forward to a break in Indy. Only I didn't get it. Everywhere I looked I saw signs: for lease, for rent, for sale. Telephone numbers and square footage assaulted my mind. I found myself dreaming about real estate, as I chased the holy grail of "oh where shall we meet?"

Mission Possible by Alison Istnick

The goal is tantalizingly clear: the ideal piece of property; an awe-inspiring church facility blueprint; the long awaited go-ahead for an exciting project that promises to take your church to the next level; or even the solid effort to retire funds borrowed in the past. While the objective to obtain a loan may be evident, the task of finding a lender willing to lend your church possibly millions of dollars can seem – well, like mission impossible.