No. 7 - Have a Master Site Plan
This point can't be emphasized enough. Having a good master site plan is crucial to the future of your
church and to the fulfillment of the vision that the Lord has given you. Over half of all the churches that
I meet with have failed, in some capacity, to properly address the master site planning for future
phases. This process can be quite intricate and is directly related to your program requirements (list of
needs and wants). Through the years, I have discovered that there is actually a "logic" behind master
site planning. It involves determining the proper building placement on the site, understanding sanctuary
orientation options, providing a main focal point for building access, providing good traffic (people) flow,
planning for the expansion of each department, and addressing the critical importance of the relationships
between each program component. A good church architect should be sensitive to the importance of
these things and how they relate to your particular site.
Another area regarding master site planning that is directly related to project "phasing" is the use of
multipurpose facilities for phase one buildings. I encourage any church that is planning a phase one
building (up to 1,000 seats) to consider a multipurpose building. They can be designed to be aesthetically
pleasing and they offer the most effective solutions for future phasing. The "1,000-seat" number is not
necessarily an exact cutoff for this type of facility. However, we have found that it becomes more difficult
to overcome sight-line problems as you put more and more people on a "flat" floor (with no slope). The
multipurpose building, or Family Life Center, as we call it, allows you to combine the square footage of the
sanctuary, fellowship hall and gym into one room. It also, in the future, becomes good educational support
facilities for your complex when you later add your new sanctuary.
