Monday, February 11, 2008

New Poll: Have you ever been a part of a building program?

Due to the positive vote on Sunday, I am now part of a current building expansion program. To which I am really excited. I've been part of building programs before, sorta. My home church built on while I was in college. The church I went to in college built on, mostly during the summer while I was back home. My first ministry was in the process of building, but nothing happened beyond getting the rezoning for the land and then we were gone.

So, now I am in the beginning stages of what will be my first real building expansion program. I'm curious to how many of you, youth workers or others, who read this blog, have been involved with a building program. So that is my question.

Have you been a part of a building program?
Yes, as a minister
Yes, but not as a minister
No
Why would you want to build?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the whole process. Leave some hints, tips, advice, or whatever in the comments. Thanks

5 comments:

  1. At my ministry, we are currently building a Youth Center that should be finished this Summer. What has really helped us is that one of our Trustees is a retired fellow who spent 33 years in the Construction field. He is in charge of the whole project, from getting bids and keeping the whole project on schedule to the minute details of the project. Even if you cannot turn over total control to one individual, select someone that can handle the day to day aspects of the project, especially during construction.

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  2. Thanks for the tip. I think we do have a few guys who will play that role. They've been the ones to really head up the project from the beginning.

    Has your go-to guy helped the church avoid some mistakes along the way?

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  3. I am not directly involved in the planning and building (as the Youth Director), so I do not know any specifics. However, I do know that he has worked jointly with the architect and the general contractor to make sure everything goes according to plan and on schedule. He has devoted enough time into this project that it is almost a full time job.

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  4. One recommendation I would make is develop promotional material for your congregation. For our project, the staff got tired of describing the building over and over again. Finally, we had an artist make 2 renderings, which we blew up and posted around the church. We also attached simplified blueprints to the renderings.

    We still answered questions about the building, but did not have to repeat the same info. Also, this gave the congregation a concrete image of the building, which created more excitement for the project.

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  5. Brandon, I agree with the promotional material. We did that here. We have two poster-size depictions of the new addition (one from the outside and one with the plans) and they have really helped people visualize. We also did some brochures and a small version of the plans to help people get a clearer picture of what we are doing. It has made a huge difference.

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