Building Blocks: How to Avoid Them
Some lessons about building programs from a pastor who learned the hard way.
David Wilkinson
January 1, 1984
In one sense, I'm unqualified to write an article about church building programs. I've never had any training in construction. My seminary experience was sadly lacking in instruction on building codes, labor law, and money markets. However, as an amateur who's found himself involved in one minor and two major church building projects in the last four years, I have learned some things. My qualifications: In 1980, our church added eighteen hundred square feet to the Christian education and fellowship hall. In 1982, we converted one of the rooms added in the 1980 expansion into a modern kitchen. In 1983, we expanded our sanctuary by sixteen hundred square feet to more than double our seating capacity. My purpose in writing this article is to help you recognize and overcome some building blocks should you some day find yourself up to your ears in blueprints and sawdust. Building blocks naturally fall into four categories: people, money, plans, and construction. People: Who's in Charge Here?
1. Don't stereotype—you might miss the leader you need. As we approached our first building project in 1980, one of my great concerns was to find a person qualified to head up the program. I had only been at the church a few months and did not yet know the gifts of the people. I hoped to find a contractor in the congregation or else get one from the United Methodist church down the street in exchange for a high draft choice and an usher to be named later. I envisioned a kindly, tough, dedicated, competent man with a number of successful buildings under his belt who would head up the program as an act of Christian love. One day, however, I visited a middle-aged widow who had been more or less uninvolved in our church for several years. ...
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