Irving Bible Church
Compass Christian Church
IRVING BIBLE CHURCH( Irving, Texas) + COMPASS CHRISTIAN CHURCH( North Fort Worth, Texas) These two large Texas churches share a handful of community-focused design elements:
LARGE COMMONS AREAS. In churches, these spaces used to be called“ narthexes.” Then they were“ lobbies.” Now they’ re called Commons areas. Regardless, one they all have in common is their community-focused function: they are spaces where people can gather before and after worship services or dropping off or picking up their kids from the children’ s area, and so on.
COFFEE BARS / CAFÉS. A coffee bar / cafe can be open during the week so businesspeople can come and get a cup of coffee, and parents can bring their kids together for play dates while they enjoy a latte. One church Goff Companies is currently working with is turning its entire lobby and administration area into a fully functioning coffee shop. It will be a for-profit business, but— more importantly— a place for people to gather and socialize. And hopefully, they’ ll come back on Sunday.
GREAT Wi-Fi. In Texas, homeschooling is a big movement. Accordingly, churches are gathering spaces for parents in the community who are taking this approach. These are mix-and-mingle spaces that they and their kids wouldn’ t otherwise get to enjoy outside a traditional school. And those businesspeople meeting and working remotely in the coffee bar / café? They need a strong signal, too.
do during the week that they don’ t have to go and spend money on. Also, almost every church we design right now is putting in some type of café or coffee shop in the Commons spaces. Speaking of that, churches might like their lobbies to be really big, but it can be expensive when you factor in costs like air-conditioning and heating. So, maybe we make those spaces a little smaller and let them spill outdoors. Glass garage doors can provide indoor / outdoor space for gatherings. And that way, when people drive by, maybe they see 100 people outside having fun together; it becomes an attraction. Overall, churches need to avoid the appearance of being too internally focused, like exclusive country clubs.
CE: Obviously, it’ s easier to incorporate these elements into a new-build project. But what can existing churches do?
Tanner Goff: We’ re working with a church right now whose school has moved out of their building. Now they’ re opening up all those rooms for community activities. One will be used for supervised visits between foster children and their biological parents. Other rooms will host addiction recovery program meetings. This is just one example. Generally, if you have space for it, pickleball is huge right now. Maybe there’ s enough room in your parking lot to stripe off an area for that. My point is that your church can be community-focused with spaces you already have.
CE: Are there lesser-considered benefits of taking a community-focused design approach, aside from outreach and discipling?
Kerry Jones: Well, there’ s some financial sustainability to be had in community-focused spaces. But even if they’ re not providing new revenue streams, the fact that you’ re using your buildings to their full potential demonstrates good stewardship. Also, staff and church morale can benefit from seeing their building being used more efficiently. After all, they’ re paying for the building; if they see that it’ s helping the church reach people during the week, not just on Sunday, I think it provides an intangible boost.
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