Master planning is perhaps the most overlooked technique that a church can use to save time, money, and a lot of frustration.  Churches are ideal candidates for master planning because they typically construct their facilities in phases over a long period of time.

A simple definition of a master plan is that it is a design of everything that the church plans to build on a particular site.

Master plans are usually composed of site plans, floor plans, exterior views of the building, and artistic renderings that depict the project in its various phases. It may also include budgets, strategies, schedules and an architectural model of the completed project.

I like to use the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle to help people understand how a master plan works.  To create the puzzle, you must first have a picture, which is then cut into pieces.  These are then put back together piece by piece, all fitting perfectly, to recreate the picture.  The master plan is the picture, which is then broken down into its various phases of construction.  As each phase is constructed, the "pieces" fit together properly.

By knowing what each component of the master plan will be, costly mistakes and needless expenses can be prevented.

For example, it is much less expensive to construct a building so that the floor of the entire building is at the same level.  Even a 1' difference in elevation from one floor to another can cost tens of thousands of dollars because of the cost of constructing stairs and ramps for wheelchair users.  If each addition to the building were at different levels, these costs would multiply by many times.

For similar reasons, coordinating the floor elevation of the building with the topography of the site can eliminate the need to construct exterior stairs and ramps.  Not only are these very costly, but they also present liability and safety hazards as well.

Providing properly sized utilities, such as water, sewer, power, and natural gas are also big money-savers, because if they are sized for the full project, they will only have to be installed once.

Knowing where an elevator will be installed in the future means that all of the structure and fire-rated walls can be constructed in advance, eliminating a costly retrofit later.

Those are just a few of the many examples of how a master plan can save money on construction.  But it provides many other benefits, too.

Master planning allows a church to be frugal with the amount of construction that is done.  In other words, every part of the master plan has a purpose that has been identified, justified and quantified. 

There are four things that need to be in balance with each other in order to accomplish this.  These are 1) worship space, 2) educational space, 3) fellowship space and 4) parking.  A church's attendance will tend to stabilize with the smallest of these four denominators.  If, for example, the sanctuary seats 500 people, but there is only enough parking for 200, attendance will tend to stay around 200.  A frugal design will keep these capacities in balance to the greatest degree possible, creating economy and efficiency.

Sometimes when churches build, they find that an important part of their existing building becomes unusable during construction.  This can mean months of chaos as the church does a stressful juggling act in an attempt to keep everything going.  The master plan should be designed to keep worship, education, fellowship and parking in balance and in operation during this time, so that the church never skips a beat. 

A good master plan will effectively communicate the vision for the project to everyone in the congregation. 

We tend to be a forgetful people, and we need reminders to keep us focused.  If this vision is not clearly communicated on a continual basis to the congregation, all of the hard work and planning that was initially done on the master plan will be lost.

Therefore, it is critical to keep the master plan displayed where everyone in the church will come into contact with it.

Since one of the goals of the master plan will be to stimulate growth, there will be a constant flow of new people into the church.  The master plan is very useful for acquainting them with the goals of the church, and to gain their moral and financial support.

Although most of the technical work of the master plan is done by the architect, the congregation will spend a great deal of time preparing the criteria for the architect.  This can be a valuable time of prayer and thought that can edify the church.

Jesus said, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish." (Luke 14:28-30). 

This was actually an analogy about counting the cost of being His disciple, but there is a clear principle in this example that I think is applicable to our building programs. 

It is important that the master plan be done with a great deal of care.  If, for example, you make assumptions without having sufficient knowledge, make decisions without doing proper research, or deliberately attempt to circumvent laws (like building codes), you could be setting yourself up for disaster.  Even worse, you may find yourself with an unfinished project on display for the world to see.  I can think of at least two occasions where churches have been forced to stop their construction by building officials, leading to a great deal of embarrassment.  One of them, over five years later, is still unfinished.

Once a realistic master plan is completed, it is important to follow through with it.  This does not mean that course corrections can not be done.  As new needs arise or new technologies become available, the master plan should be flexible enough to allow changes without harming the overall integrity of the plan.

A good master plan is a great tool, and in a way serves as an insurance policy against failure.  Every church should have one.