Heritage Buildings and Community Development - Church Buildings that Serve the Mission Priorities
HBCDO - Buildings that serve the 3 priorities - pdf
- The deepening of our prayer
- The renewal of our public worship
- The equipping of people to share their faith
All three Diocesan Priorities have relevant practical implications for the many and varied church buildings used by congregations in the diocese. One of my objectives is to enable the congregations to have church buildings that serve the mission of the Church AND are available for use by the wider community. This is what many Church congregations want to do. There are already a number of good examples in the diocese where church buildings are available for wider community use and have the necessary facilities of lavatories and kitchens.
However, before thinking too much about what to do with the buildings and how they can be developed for new uses, the local Church congregation needs to examine what is known and understood about their particular church building and what is currently happening with and in it, in relation to the mission of the Church.
Learning from the Retail Sector
There are similarities between the Church and the retail sector. Such a view may be a surprise to some readers, but think about it before dismissing the notion out of hand.
It may not be a consumer product that we are selling but we are in the business of attracting people to take an interest in Christianity. As the Church, we have a 'product' (the Gospel) that we wish to promote and we want to attract people's interest in the life of the Church, in the hope that these newcomers may make a long term commitment to Christ. There are considerable similarities with what shops and businesses are seeking to achieve in promoting their goods and services to the general public. We have much to learn from the retail sector about how to promote what we are offering and how to attract and keep people's interest.
The church building is the 'business premises' for the Church community. In the various contexts of Church life (parish, diocesan and national), our buildings and property serve as our 'shop windows' and they have an enormous effect on how what we are offering is perceived.
Similar to shops, our premises can attract, serve and retain people or, conversely put them off from coming near, let alone inside. Cold, dirty, closed, uncomfortable and unkempt church buildings are a significant barrier to all three Diocesan Priorities. Rather than serve the mission of the Church, church buildings can hinder it.
Sometimes, it is the building which is not 'fit for purpose'; more often, it is the way that we manage the building which results in it being a hindrance and barrier.
If a church building acts as a significant barrier to any of our three priorities for action, then it may well be necessary to either make changes to the building and its management or relocate operations to more suitable premises.
The Moment of Truth
Many non-Church people have anxieties about and fear of church buildings, what goes on inside them and the people associated with them. For some people churches are virtually alien territory and are viewed with apprehension.
Church members need to have an awareness of a retail principle 'the Moment of Truth'. This is the moment when all the advertising and promotional claims are measured against what the retailer actually delivers. The person doing the measuring is the customer and if the gap is too big between what is claimed and what is delivered, the customer may well be lost forever.
The Moment of Truth applies to the Church as well. In the case of the Church, the Moment of Truth is when all the claims made in the name of Jesus Christ are measured against what the Church actually delivers. If the gap is too big then, similarly, this too can result in the person never coming back.
Both Church members and church buildings have a big part to play in the Moment of Truth.
Michael Riddell, Threshold of the Future, SPCK 1998 - p39
