Building Up The Kingdom, or Just Building? - part 1

Four years into my first pastor position, it became clear that I needed to move on. Not because I was unhappy, and not because the church wanted to be rid of me. But for economic reasons.

As a small church of 80 members, they were barely able to afford my full-time salary when I started. After the deaths of three key contributors, the dwindling income demanded serious budget cuts. 

The congregation faced a choice. Give up having a full-time pastor, or sell the building. When they voted to make expensive repairs to their front columns, it became clear which choice they had made. 

The vast majority of churches in this position choose to keep the building and go to part-time pastoral leadership. Even as we say, “the church is the people, not the building,” our actions usually indicate the opposite. There is an emotional attachment to place - and especially to a place where a congregation has worshipped and celebrated many significant life moments - that cannot be separated from the core identity of the people.

Even new churches who do not own a building exhibit this attachment to the idea of a permanent place. There might be vibrant worship in a rented space, a thriving small group ministry that meets in homes, and an impressive program of outreach projects - but until a building is built, the new church is largely seen as not yet legitimate. In my new church context, many potential members have indicated they will give us a try when we have “a place of our own.”

Why are modern churches so attached to buildings? For declining congregations, why is the building almost always the last thing they let go? And for new churches, why is acquiring property and beginning construction so often the primary goal? Are churches in the 21st century being called to a different set of priorities?

(In the second installment of "Building Up The Kingdom, or Just Building?", we will examine the history of churches and buildings, and consider how in this era, context is key when deciding whether having "a place of our own" enhances or inhibits the mission.)