Customer Reviews

Building for Effective Mission: A Complete Guide for Congregations on Bricks and Mortar Issues (Kennon Callahan Resource Library for Effective Churches)

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Kennon Callahan provides another powerful resource to equip church planners and leaders. The style will feel very familiar to those who have used the 12 keys, but the content is fresher and more up to date. One particularly useful aspect is the paradigms of relationship between a congregation and its current or future facility. Many churches may find that they don't quite fit the mold as they expect. As with Callahan's other resources, there is the risk of oversimplifying your circumstances to fit the listed models. (This warning applies to mis-application of the books, and is not meant to be critical of the resources themselves.) Nonetheless, the book is a substantial contribution to the field. Even if your congregation feels very comfortable in your current facility, you could still gain useful insights from a careful reading and some prayerful discernment. Peace be with you.

Mr. Callahan's advice for selecting an architect is very bad advice. If a Building Committee follows his advice they will not receive the professional architectural services that they deserve. I am an architect who has specialized in designing churches for over 20 years. Mr. Callahan obviously does not understand or appreciate the full services that an architect who specializes in church architecture can provide. His suggestion to use a "architectural study process" is only going to result in participation of less qualified architects providing unsatisfactory design services. I would hope that anyone reading this book will be able to understand that this system is doomed for failure.
Robert H. Amor, Church Architect