So why don’t churches make better use of their space?  One word – change! Generally speaking, the physical issues are not as difficult to overcome as leading people, especially the group leaders, to change! This one issue is why many churches fail to address their space problem.

Here are some of my thoughts to help you think through the process of asking a class to relocate or start a new group in an off-campus facility:

1. Connect the move to the direction and purpose of the church.
2. Meet with the leader prior to meeting with the entire group. For many groups, once the group leader understands what is involved, he or she will take care of letting the group know the plan.
3. Have a plan. Share your reasoning with the group. Bring some statistics if needed.
4. Make heroes of groups that give up space and relocate. When you start a new group or relocate an existing class to a restaurant down the street – praise the group for being pioneers!
5. Move adult groups often. This helps prevent the “this is our room” syndrome from forming.
6. The absolute best way to relocate a class (or start a new group for that matter) is for the group’s leader to initiate the conversation. People accept change better when the immediate leader of the group (the teacher), both initiates and supports the change.

Ultimately, one of our key leadership roles as a pastor, Sunday School Director, or Minister of Education is to help people step forward into change. Let’s face it, your church cannot afford NOT to change! Too many of our churches are plateaued and declining and a major reason behind this decline are our comfort zones. We have simply become comfortable where we are, and that comfort causes us to be poor stewards of our facilities and opportunities.

As a general rule, I have found that when people understand the plan they are willing to make the changes necessary to help the church be a good steward of its space and facilities.

What issue limits your church’s ability to grow, reach new people, and make disciples? For some churches, it appears to be the lack of people willing to step up and lead. Other churches struggle with direction or purpose. For many churches however, their most limiting factor may be space.

If you chose space, there is good news. From my experience, the space issues that many churches experience is more a matter of perspective and choice, rather than a facility issue (or lack thereof). Of all the limiting factors a church can face, space is one that can be overcome with some planning… and some dreaming!

As the minister of education at a growing church, I ran head-on into the space issue a few years ago. We had on-campus space for about 350 people in Sunday School, yet our Sunday School attendance reached 1,600 average attenders. How did we do it? We maximized the space we had, and utilized space we did not own! Here are some suggestions:

1. Clean the Easter and VBS props out of old classrooms. In church, any space that is unused by the Sunday School will be claimed by another organization. Don’t use rooms for storage that your church built for Bible study!
2. Alternative on-campus space. You may have space available that you are unaware of because these spaces are used for other stuff. Consider putting classes in the church kitchen, the weight room, the church library, and the pastor’s office.
3. Multi-use your space. After you have exhausted 1 & 2 above, a next step could be going to dual or even triple Sunday School hours. Remember that when you move from one Sunday School to two Sunday School hours, you do not technically double your space. Preschool and some children space will be used by the same people for both hours. Typically you can increase your space by about 60% by going to a dual Sunday School schedule.
4. Move into space that you do not have to build. Many churches have space available to them that they are unaware of, such as restaurants, businesses, and homes. These spaces are often available for free, or for a very small amount of money… especially when you compare the cost of building new space!
5. Ask some of your Sunday School classes to begin meeting in homes during the week, or even on Sunday morning. Often, the children of middle-aged adults are either grown or can drive themselves, and they have less need to be in the church building. Being on campus for Sunday School is not as vital to this age group as when they had small children that they brought to the facilities for Sunday School.

You may be thinking, all of this sounds good, but how do I convince the class that has met in a certain room for years to relocate to the church kitchen?

I’ll touch on that issue in tomorrow’s post…

What does the appearance of your church campus and educational space communicate? When a person drives past your church there is a sightline that comes into view for a matter of seconds. What does the sightline reveal? Do the buildings and surrounding grounds look well maintained and inviting? Is there signage that directs guests to a welcome area? Is there plenty of parking?

A guest will make a decision as to whether they will return in the very first minutes of a visit to the church. Is there guest parking? I like what “guest parking” communicates much better than “visitors parking.” Will someone meet the guest as soon as they depart from their car and meet their needs immediately? An impression of what the entire church is like is often made by the first person they meet.

Is there a Welcome Center and trained greeters? Does your children’s space look inviting? Is it a place where you would want to leave your own children? Are adult classrooms neat, clean and chairs arranged for maximum learning?

Another issue is whether there is adequate space. When 80% or more of the space is filled, this factor can become a major barrier to attendance growth. It is good to evaluate where Sunday School classes are arranged in your educational space. Many state conventions have a resource person who can help you in evaluation of space and future arrangement.

Often a church must make a decision to add space or stop growing. We must never let space stop us from reaching people for Christ. In this case it is important to consider options for the future. I have served in churches where there were multiple Sunday School hours, use of adjoining houses that belonged to the church, modular buildings approved for use by the county and even a air controlled tent for senior high until further space could be added. Whatever you do to add space make sure that enough time is given for future planning. A resource person from your state convention can also be extremely helpful.

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Rick Ellison serves in the office of Leadership & Church Health for the Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions