Is Your Church Ready to Build a Recreation Facility?

The Church Architecture Department along with the Recreation and Sports Ministry at LifeWay Christian Resources provides a checklist to determine readiness to build a recreation facility. See how your church stacks up.

• Does the church have an existing recreation program that involves children, youth, adults and senior adults?
  
• Does the church have a full-time staff person other than the pastor with recreation programming responsibility?
  
• Does the church understand the additional manpower, both volunteer and paid, required for proper operation of a facility?
  
• Does the church have adequate financial resources to perpetually budget each year for the ongoing expenses of church recreation programming, staffing, maintenance, equipment, utilities, insurance, etc.?
  
• Does the church have a plan for controlling, staffing, and hours of operation of the building?
  
• Can the current need for a facility be met by rented or borrowed recreation space from community groups (schools, community center, YMCA, etc.)? If so, has the use of these been maximized?
  
• Is there an ample amount of space given to education, worship and parking space needs for at least the next 5 years?
  
• Does the church own adequate property for expansion of worship, education, recreation and parking facilities for he foreseeable future?
  
• Does the church have a long-range master plan for the stewardship of all property owned?
  
• Can the church afford to build commercial quality, durable construction that fits with other buildings on-site and purchase heavy-duty commercial quality equipment that will withstand the recreational use and potential abuse of such a facility?
  
• Does the church recognize that a recreation building alone will not make it grow, or more evangelistic?

If the answer to these is yes; full speed ahead! You are a good candidate for a church recreation facility or multipurpose facility. If the answer to one or more of these questions is no; the church should:

1. Reconsider building until these issues have been addressed, or
2. Plan to address them in the early planning stages of the project.

More information on this subject is found in The Guidebook for Building Recreation and Sports Ministry Facilities. Order by e-mailing: john.garner@lifeway.com.

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