Customer Reviews

When Not to Build: An Architect's Unconventional Wisdom for the Growing Church

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Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall have asked all the right questions here. The answers may surprise you! I wanted a straight forward look at the big question of when to build a church and found a lot of little questions along the way. I had to ask questions like; "Will more people come if we build?", and "Can we afford to build?". Without asserting their religious views excessively or to the point of distraction, the authors were a big help in this regard. The same thought process goes on for people all over the world when they aspire to or are thrust into a leadership position in a building project. Also, there is nothing new here. People have been building churches for an awful long time, you know. Why try to reinvent the wheel? I recommend reading this book to help answer your questions and to know what quetions to ask.

I "had" to read this book because I am on the church board. I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is an easy-reading book that offers unique "think outside the box" ideas for solving a variety of church problems. Even if you are NOT thinking about building, many of the ideas in this book may be useful to your church!

Most churches probably don't need to build because there are other very viable and realistic alternatives. (The book gives many examples!) A building may also put the church in financial bondage, and shift the churches focus from people/outreach to the building program. Because the focus changes, the church stops growing...and they end up in a big new building with hardly any people.

Besides the actual physical ideas for creating more usable space in your existing building, the book also encourages you to think more about your churches priorities and principles. Maybe you don't even need more space. Is your church "over-programmed"?? Many churches start new programs without phasing out any of the old. Old and new programs may end up over-lapping with each other. More isn't necessarily better. It can lead to chaos, volunteers stretched thin, lower quality programs, and lack of space. Better to do less and do it well. Cutting out some programs may not only solve the space problems, but just be better for the church anyways! Short on sunday school classrooms? The "team teaching" method described in the book will not only free up space, but it often creates a higher quality of sunday school classes.

I highly recommend this book - many creative ideas... I think all church leaders should read it.

Bowman & Hall make a solid case for examining every possible option before deciding to build or expand your facilities.

Convicing arguments with good supporting data.

Recommended for any church considering investing in facilities.

(Companion book, When Not To Finance, is in the works.)

i bought this book b/c the church where my husband is a minister built nearly 3 years ago and now the church is so in debt my husband and the other associate minister are about to lose their job so they can pay the mortgage. what a wealth of wisdom is in this book! and a quick read, too. if every church going through growing pains read this book, i believe the face of american churches would be completely different. what i especially love is the common sense advice for how to reorganize ministries to use space better, take the burden off the volunteers, etc.

and you can't argue with the man. the Bible nowhere EVER advocates debt as a good thing, much less a whole body of believers going into debt for something material like a building. i love his chapter on turning church spending upside down, and imagining what a church could do in and for the community with the money they would have spent on an unnecessary building.

a lot of practical, biblical, common sense advice. highly recommend it!

In the 35 years I have been a lay leader in several different churches, this is absolutely the best and most practical book I have ever read! It is also an easy read. I gave it to a friend who read it in one afternoon. It should be mandatory reading for every church elder/leader board.

Dale Ewald

An excellent book.
This book advocates that:
churches should use their space intensively;
design for a growing church is different than design for a static church;
flexible multi-use space is preferred to dedicated space (e.g. a sanctuary used once a week);
a church should not build if building will take resources from ministry;
a church should build debt free to the extent possible.
A quote,"Most of a church's ministry takes place not when the church is gathered, but when it is scattered. If we truly understand this, we will no longer feel compelled to keep expanding the church's buildings."

As chairman of a committee to help our church evaluate options for accommodating more people, I found this book extremely helpful. I made it required reading for the entire committee and recommended it to others. It presents a realistic picture of what is involved in building or expanding a church.

This book offers very practical, essential advice and guidance to churches planning facility building projects. Too often well intentioned church board members are only too eager to take on huge loans on the basis that God will provide the money in the future or if you build something more people will come or they will give more. Unfortunately, that is often not the case and many churches cannot make their payments. This has been especially true with the recent downturn in the economy. People forget that the 30 year life of a typical loan is a very long time in the life of a church and it commits a large chunk of the church income to a single purpose. Bowman suggests that if God wanted something built He would provide the money first since He is quite clear about avoiding all financial debt.

If you want conventional wisdom, don't look here. This is a very Biblical, fresh, look at the way we do church, from the foyer to the sanctuary. The authors' combined experiences, along with their desire to do things God's way, result in some eye-opening revelations.

This is a "must read" for any church that is beginning to plan for building any addition. It is helpful to answer the questions that the authors present to us before we assume that we know why we are building and what we can expect to accomplish through the building project.