I remember a growth spurt at my church that left congregants sitting in the choir loft if they arrived on time to Sunday morning worship. If they arrived late, a spot was made available on the steps, or in the gym, where worship was fed in via closed-circuit television.

Ushers still said "Welcome," smiled and handed out bulletins—even to people sitting on a step. And really, no one was really upset about the crowding. Actually, it was exciting. It indicated growth in no uncertain terms, and that was a good thing—a good problem.

Church growth experts Dr. Thom Rainer and Dr. Chuck Lawless recommend in Church Central’s Church Health Encyclopedia that churches determine to create more room once their facility reaches 80 percent capacity. Too much crowding and people simply assume there isn’t room for them.

"… attendees (especially guests) will assume that it is full and will not feel welcome," Lawless and Rainer write.

The sanctuary is a crucial space to consider in evaluating whether your church facility is adequate and capable of sustaining growth. But there are three other areas that also merit attention: the nursery, educational space and the parking lot.

Jim Couchenour of Cogun Ministry Services writes about parking as part of the first impression package churches offer visitors.

"Set up clearly designated areas for first-time guests, single parents with young children and elderly guests," Couchenour advises. He even suggests free valet parking. At the least the parking lot should be easy to find and navigate, as well as adequate for a congregation’s needs.

Rainer and Lawless agree. "Once your parking lot is full," they write, "prospective members may drive past your building, assuming that there is no room inside if there is no room in the parking lot."

Multiple services

Often multiple services can solve the parking dilemma and the sanctuary crowding at the same time. "What an opportunity to see God work and fill those seats with hungry souls who need the gospel," Lawless and Rainer write.

Multiple services can also free up volunteers to work in simultaneous ministries, such as Sunday School or children’s activities.

Flexible space

It makes sense that physical facilities are one of the most discussed topics in church growth. But the two are not exactly symbiotic partners. According to researcher George Barna, successful ministries of the future will recognize that growth can also happen outside the walls of the church building and at other times besides Sunday at 11 a.m. He calls for flexibility and creativity.

"Anchoring a church’s ministry offerings to a physical ministry campus won’t work for increasing numbers of Americans," Barna writes.

Even when ministry does come to the church building, church leaders are seeing it take varying forms, requiring different room configurations and setups. That may be why many churches have latched on to the idea of making their space flexible—especially when it comes to Christian education, an area in which half of all churches say they need more room, according to a survey by Faith Communities Today.

Again, multiple sessions may solve space problems for Sunday School or children’s activities. Also, dividing large, multi-purpose rooms into smaller classrooms can easily be accomplished with temporary partitions, such as Versipanels that roll up for storage, Screenflex portable partitions that may be wheeled away on carts, or Hufcor operable partitions that offer more permanent curtain walls.

Temporarily sectioning off large spaces in order to accommodate smaller groups is a popular solution for churches, many of which are opting to renovate during a growth spurt in order to better use their space. An estimated 40 percent of all Myler Church Building Systems’ renovation work comes from a combination of new construction and renovation. According to regional vice president of the Midwest, Tom Walker, churches are looking to, "improve the efficiency of existing square footage."

A typical scenario is converting fellowship space into classrooms, Walker said. With partitions, the church gym, fellowship hall, even narthex can be used for educational classes, small groups and meetings. Although some churches find that partitions provide only a visual barrier and not a sound barrier. The upside to all the noise is the portability and temporary nature of the solution that may be part of a larger plan to expand.

Growth trend

McGraw-Hill Construction continues to track a climbing trend in church building over the past few years. In 2003 McGraw-Hill Construction reported a 14 percent increase in square footage of religious-based construction projects. In 2005 they estimate that 42 million square feet of religious space will be built.

In an independent poll some 60 percent of ChurchCentral.com’s readers reported that their church plans to renovate or build this year. I hope you’re still at 80 percent capacity or less and that your visitors aren’t sitting on steps. But even if they are, things could be worse—you could be dusting pews.