Sacred Space Research - 4

Take a look at these last few questions.

These have caused the most conversation (debate) because in every case the unchurched chose the most orthodox/cathedral/traditional looking option for their preferred church design.

So what does this mean? Do we begin designing church facilities that resemble 8th century cathedrals and long, narrow seating arrangements?

First, if the design of the building was the only factor in church attendance, there would be huge numbers of people going to church in the beautiful buildings across the country. In fact, when we asked the formerly unchurched two years ago what impact building design had on their choice to attend, 3% said it had any impact at all.

I think the more orthodox/cathedral/traditional designs were chosen because they were deciding in the basis of aesthetics and didn't have a personal connection with the buildings. Those buildings also may have represented their concept of what church is supposed to look like. What do you think?

Sacred Space Research - 3

The next questions started dealing with church design more specifically. We wanted to know how important building design would be if an unchurched person considered going to church. So we asked...

If you were considering visiting or attending a church, would the design of the church building impact how much you enjoyed that visit?

Over 50% said the building design would either strongly or somewhat impact their enjoyment of the visit. It becomes more interesting when you look at the difference across different categories. For example, building design is...

More important Less Important

Women - 58% Men - 50%

Large city - 60% Small city - 50%

Liberal - 58% Very conservative - 40%

18 - 24 yr olds - 62% 70+ yr olds - 44%

Living together - 61% Div/widowed/single - 43%

Not born again - 61% Born again - 42%

What does this mean in your context? When you look at the list above what kind of people are currently in your church. More importantly, what kind of people are you called to reach?

We all know buildings are a tool, but if design is more important to people we're trying to reach, maybe we need to give more focus to aesthetics, both inside and outside the building.

The next post will be the wrap up of the research and then I'll offer some thoughts about what all this means. In the meantime, any thoughts to share?

Sacred Space Research - 2

Here are the answers to a couple open-ended questions. Keep in mind these are free-form, top-of-mind answers aggregated from over 1,600 people who do not currently attend church.


Thinking of this same place you would likely meet a friend, what about the layout or fixtures of that space makes it enjoyable? In other words, when meeting a friend, what design features of the environment contribute to making it a good place to interact?


















In what places or settings do you feel close to God?

















On the question above (Where do you feel closest to God?) the largest percentage said nowhere/NA, which makes sense I guess because they don't go to church. However, the vast majority of those who did have an opinion feel close to God in nature or the outdoors. Hmmm... I wonder if we could bring some of the outdoors inside our church buildings; maybe an Embassy Suites kind of atrium with plants and trees and....

It's also interesting that 1 out of 10 unchurched people feel close to God inside a church, cathedral or synagogue. In the next post we'll look at how design plays into their perspective on church buildings.

Sacred Space Research

We had a great Cornerstone Conference last week in Indy. We talked about underlying currents affecting church ministries today and how we can responsd to them. Dave Ferguson encouraged us to keep an eye on our "RPMS" (Relationships / Physical health / Mental growth / Spiritual development.

Joe Myers and I gave a talk on creating "irresistible environments" and Joe helped us understand the inmportance of creaing soulful spaces, not just rooms. I presented the Sacred Space research we just completed and that will be the topic of the next few posts.

We began the study by asking some non-threatening questions about where people like to get together with friends and family. Keep in mind that the answers are from over 1,600 people who do not go to church.

Here are the first few questions and their responses:

Church Design Re-Mix?

I just received a rough draft copy of research that Cornerstone Knowledge Network sponsored with Lifeway Research. Amazing! We asked over 1,600 people who don't go to church, things like where they hang out and why, where they find their "sacred space" and what they like (and don't like) about church buildings.

I can't give much of the results here because we're going to unveil them next week in Indianapolis at the Cornerstone Knowledge Network conference. But there is one thing I didn't expect: traditional church design is preferred by the unchurched much more than I realize! When we gave them pictures to choose from, the more traditional, cathedral-type photos were ranked the highest in every case.

So what does this mean for those of us who help churches that are designing buildings that engage people who don't go to church? Are we designing buildings that only represent what we think will appeal to those folks?

Given my previous blog about multi-use space, I'm wondering if there is a balance between keeping the building flexible and still appealing to the unchurched.

Multi-Use Ministry Space

This morning I gave a presentation at the Church Solutions conference in Phoenix, AZ. It dealt with multi-use ministry space – the good, the bad – and what it means to my home church New Hope Community Church in Boardman, OH.

Here are the pluses:

1. MU space is highly changeable in the short-term – one space can house different activities in the same day
2. MU space is good stewardship – you get more uses which divides the cost of the space
3. MU space is “future-proof” – as your ministry methods change (and they will), the space can morph along with those changes

Here are minuses:

1. MU space requires a high degree of management – you need to dedicate staff and budget for scheduling, set up tear down, etc.
2. MU space requires high maintenance – use high quality materials and finishes because they take more of a beating
3. MU requires much creativity – you can finish out a “big box” very creatively if you partner with someone who has the expertise for it

My pastor, Paul Dazet gave his perspective on multi-use ministry space via audio (he was scheduled to be there, but got snowed in). He talked about how we are moving from a seeker-targeted approach to an incarnational form of ministry. He said we are trying to create ownership among our people so they will use our warehouse as a way to engage and connect with the community.

I am biased toward MU ministry space; because I believe more flexible buildings keep us from being locked into a way of doing ministry that will eventually become obsolete. While there are downsides, this is the way to future-proof that obsolescence.

Books and Buildings

A book contains two stories. The first story is within the pages of the book. We read it and get absorbed in the characters and the plot. The other story is the one about the book itself. We make notes. We dog ear the pages. We remember where we were at certain points in the book. Perhaps we lend the book to someone else and then they lend it to another person.

At some point the book begins to have two distinct stories:

1. the original story inside the book

2. the story that evolves around the book itself – the people who read it, the written notes inside, the dog eared pages, whether it stays on the shelf or gets sold in a garage sale, etc.

This is true of buildings that are used for ministry. When a church builds a building, it is for the purpose of telling the gospel story. This is like the written story on the pages of the book.

After awhile the building itself begins to have its own story because of how it is used and what takes place within it. Carpets get worn. Windows get cleaned. People connect with each other and with God. Significant events such as weddings and baptisms take place.

So if you’re building a new facility, remember that in addition to the teaching and preaching that takes place, the building itself will begin to develop its own story. It will house events and connections that result from people learning and experiencing community with one another. No one can predict how that story will evolve, but it will be written. And, it can become more beautiful than we ever imagined.