Form And Function
Examining the Ever-Growing Popularity of Multipurpose Design

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

Today, churches are designed to operate seven days a week, up to 80 hours. In a typical seven-day period, so many different people gather at a church, and so many varying needs are met, that “multipurpose” and “flexible” have become the new buzzwords in church architecture, and rightly so.

But is this type of design really right for every church? According to Robert C. Foreman, who heads up Foreman, Seeley and Fountain Architects in Norcross, Ga., not necessarily. He suggests the first question to ask before embarking on your construction project is if your church’s design should be decided by function or aesthetics.

“Some churches will build a shrine or a monument,” Foreman explains. “However, the church that values function and understands that buildings are ministry tools will instruct its architect to be sensitive to the ministries of the church and to design around [its] functional needs.”

Overall, multipurpose facilities have gained the most popularity in budget-driven churches. These are often start-up congregations, and leaders regard these facilities as efficient, economical starting points. After all, as many architects point out, multi-use spaces can often be refinished to serve as worship spaces later. (In fact, some architects go so far as to say a church’s ideal sanctuary should be the last step in its expansion.) However, established churches primarily concerned with stewardship rather than aesthetics are getting in the game, too. These congregations enjoy adding these types of structures as a “next step” in their growth, since traditional worship and other spaces usually have already been constructed.

For the most part, the appeal of multipurpose design can be narrowed down to a handful of rationales.

1. You get the most space for the least cost. “Traditional design and ornate architecture are very expensive and labor-intensive,” Foreman explains. “Church architecture is becoming plainer due to tight budgets and the need to build more buildings for less money.”

Even large churches who can afford to build traditional facilities often don’t, he adds, because they’d rather spend their money on technology or extra space.

2. The atmosphere is less formal than a traditional worship space, so it’s seeker-friendly. “The trend is to have large rooms that can serve as worship and fellowship spaces, as well as for indoor recreational activities,” Foreman says. “The ‘warehouse’ look that some churches have today is partly the result of the trend toward multipurpose space.”

As an added benefit, this means the church can open its doors to the community, allowing them access to a space that, although religious in nature, doesn’t feel sacrilegious to use in secular ways.

3. Multipurpose spaces grow with your church, adapting to emerging and expanding ministry needs as the years pass. Let’s break down this rationale room by room.

First, lobbies play important roles as the hub of fellowship. When you begin to host multiple worship services, for instance, certain families will no doubt complain, “But we won’t get to see our friends anymore!” However, they’re sure to meet up in the lobby as one family is coming and the other is going.

Offer coffee, food service and a bookstore in this area, and you’ll get the most use for your money.

In the sanctuary, implementing movable walls, motorized, movable stadium seating, lighting systems and stages featuring minimal fixed-inplace elements lets you convert it to a family life center. You must also consider what types of special-effects lighting and other audiovisual elements will be necessary to use this space for theatrical performances, an increasingly popular and effective method of outreach.

Classrooms rely on creativity, including movable wall partitions, to become much larger. Many of these walls are not only sturdy, but seal at the floor and ceiling, so there’s no need to worry about the class next door paying more attention to the other teacher’s lesson than yours.

Also, consider investing in lightweight folding tables that teachers can easily set up and tear down instead of dividing the room into floor- and tableactivity areas. Wall-mounted storage cabinets can replace cabinets on the floor to save even more valuable space.

Administrative and office spaces should be positioned so that they’re easily accessible during the week and very secure, since churches prefer an open-door policy on their campuses.

Heating and air-conditioning become important as well. Not every space will be in use every day, so you should be able to efficiently regulate office and administrative spaces’ heating and cooling needs.

4. Your multipurpose facility will be a tool in reaching seekers. Perhaps the most compelling motivation to consider multipurpose design comes from the Rev. Danny Campbell of Wayne Hills Baptist Church (Waynesboro, Va.) in an online sermon, Why I Believe in Multi-Purpose Buildings for Churches.

“I think [multipurpose buildings] aid in winning people to Jesus and fulfilling a great commission,” he writes. “Churches with multipurpose buildings use them seven days a week. It takes all kinds of bait to catch all kinds of fish. And it takes all kind of programs to reach out and win all kinds of people.”

But most telling is the fact that Campbell discovered church when, as a young man, a friend invited him to play basketball on a Friday night at a church’s family life center. “That broke the ice,” he recalls. “It’s a simple fact that many men need something that will bring their defenses down, making them more approachable with the gospel.” The following week, Campbell’s friend invited him to church, and the rest is history.

Sure, lots of things in the Church have changed. Design, religious customs and worship services have all evolved. One thing that has remained the same is the need for churches to be places for religious and social functions. Plan wisely, and you’ll meet both commissions brilliantly.

Not In a Position to Build?
How to Make the Most of the Space You’ve Got

No matter how meager your tastes, building a new facility costs money. Fortunately, there are ways to make the space you have stretch farther than you thought. In that vein, Eddy Hall, a senior consultant with Living Stones Associates (www.living-stones.com) in Goessel, Kans., advocates teaching old buildings new tricks.

The “full” Sunday school: An illusion? “In my work, I’ve learned that this usually means, ‘We have a class in every — or almost every — available room,” Hall explains. Recently, he walked through a church in which all but two of the classes had room to double or triple their attendance, “but because all the rooms were in use, the people considered their Sunday school space full,” he says.

In actuality, the church could have installed folding walls to create more places for teens and adults to meet. Then, he says, the Sunday school space would have doubled.

Many sanctuaries aren’t well suited to multiple services. After all, most were designed for one service. But what do those that are appropriate look like?

“The main requirement is a large foyer or other fellowship area where those leaving the first service can visit with those arriving for the second service without causing congestion,” Hall explains.

Food and beverages are also good ideas. They complement what Hall calls a “third ministry event,” half-hour fellowship times. These could happen between services, allowing worshippers to visit with one another without disrupting the next worship service.

If office space is at a premium, look outside. Consider converting the parsonage or other adjoining property to accommodate administrative functions. “Providing a housing allowance for the pastor in lieu of a parsonage is far less hassle,” Hall says. “Usually, it’s much less expensive than building offices, too.”

“The greatest benefit, though, can’t be measured in dollars and sense,” he adds. “The real tragedy of unneeded church building programs is that they drain time, money and energy away from ministry.

Too often, growing churches build too big, too soon, only to discover that growth stops, he says. Why? Because the church’s focus changes from the ministries producing the growth to building and paying for a facility.

“When we teach old buildings new tricks, it doesn’t just save money,” Hall adds, “it helps us stay focused on the real work of the Church.”

Adapted from WHEN NOT TO BUILD: An Architect's Unconventional Wisdom for the Growing Church by Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall (Baker, 2004)