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Name: Jacob
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Importance of a Worship Space
March 26th, 2012A worship space is a special place. It is a special place for obvious reasons, as the main purpose is the time spent seeking God. But there are other reasons this room in a church building is so special.
The worship space at First Christian Church in Altus, OK.
The worship space is usually the place where most people in a church community spend the most time. Life is experienced in this one room. Looking back I can remember so many good Sunday days spent worshipping God in my church’s worship space as well as plenty of Sunday’s where I struggled. And then there were other Sunday’s that were neither here nor there.
Otherwise, the worship place in many church buildings is the place for joyous and emotional events like weddings and funerals. The worship space is the first place visitors will go and is often the room they associate most with your church.
A worship space then needs to be a place that is comfortable and functional for the many uses it has. Eden Religious Facilities knows the importance a worship space has in a church building and takes this into account when designing and building this important room.
Debt vs. No Debt
January 4th, 2012A church deciding on whether it should take on debt for a construction project is something we come across in almost every church building project that we help plan. There is no straight answer to this question, as it is something personal to each church. As Eden Religious Facilities better understands your church’s vision, needs and annual giving, we will have a clearer picture of what your church’s financial benchmarks should be. Additionally, if you decide to take on debt, we know what factors are important to lenders when financing your church project. Lastly, at Eden we have great relationships with many different level fundraisers in the Midwest to help you raise money and structure your campaign to help finance your church building project successfully.
Our Value Propositions at Eden Religious Facilities
December 20th, 2011Having been a part of a growing church community here in Indianapolis for the last seven years, I’ve seen first hand the importance and value the feelings trust and confidence are in a church construction company like Eden Religious Facilities. The work we do at Eden Religious Facilities affects many lives of those who attend a growing church as their existing worship space changes. But our work also affects many others who we won’t even come into contact with during a church building project: the future church members and the general community.
Something unique Eden Religious Facilities offers beyond trust and confidence and our experience and expertise in church construction projects is the direct link to the partners in our business. During all of our church construction projects church leaders and members will have direct access to our three partners and at one point all three partners will be working on a part of the project themselves. We truly believe in the work we do from the top down and are proud to work this way and offer these value propositions.
Consulting For Church Projects
December 14th, 2011Consultants during the planning, fundraising and building phases of construction of a church building are critical for a smooth process. Our first hand experience in church construction provides us with the necessary tools to guide your project to a successful outcome. From the beginning thought stages of your project to the ribbon cutting ceremony, we can be your consultant.
We understand the importance of your construction project and the involvement of your entire church community. We are eager to be involved in each step, to guide you and your church members with confidence and ease as we view ourselves as the guardians of your church building project. Our goal is to simply help you plan your dream church building or renovation and to see that dream to fruition.
We are currently consulting for a church in the area and are thrilled to be a part of this special process with them. Churches truly build the pillars in communities and we believe our solid partnerships help build them successfully.
Deciding When A Gift Is A Gift
December 6th, 2011When building churches or religious based schools there are often gifts in kind. Certain companies tied to the project in some way might offer their services to the church or school as a gift in kind. This is value given to the organization if they can perform the certain scope of work. We ask those offering a gift in kind to define what is their bid and gift of kind separately.
By overseeing this process we ensure gifts in kind are just what they are, helping to complete the project on time and giving you peace of mind. This is just another aspect of the church construction process Eden Religious Facilities oversees to make sure we are being the guardians of your project.
Know Your Costs
November 16th, 2011We suggest not writing the check and also knowing your costs.
When you are planning a project or just investigating the needs of your ministries and congregation, you need to have clarity about cost. I could spend a month telling you about churches that have jumped into the project with no real data on the “True Cost” of a new project. If you are growing, the sanctuary is getting tight, there are no parking spots left and people are shoulder to shoulder in the lobby after service, your natural reaction is to investigate a larger space.
A church that does not know their design and construction options will hire an architect to program and design a new facility with no thought to the knowledge and experience of the group that will be building the actual facility. This happens all the time all over the country when churches design a facility first, and then send it to several general contractors to bid after the design is complete. A high percentage of these situations end in a project price that stalls or stops the project all together.
This very problem is why we use the proven process of design build. Design build process assures a solid planning phase that includes all the design and constructions professionals, with all the costs associated with their services. This insures there are no surprises and no delays in the completion of the building project. Bottom line, Eden Religious Facilities delivers a quality facility while meeting budget and schedule.
Try our cost calculator to get a good idea of what it might take to build or expand your facility.
Don’t Write The Check
November 8th, 2011Having been in the church building, construction, and consulting business for over 20 years we have seen it all in terms of finance and construction costs. As guardians of your project we say, do not write that check.
Why?
Because churches do not always get the best deal. Knowing this and other pitfalls when building a church building we suggest, only spending the money that absolutely needs to be spent now. By doing this, costs can better be kept in check and kept to the agreed upon budget set by the church building committee.
Sticking to the budget, keeping construction on time, and answering questions from church members are all things Eden Religious Facilities team members do daily while managing church construction or remodeling projects.
The Story of Altus First Christian Church
September 27th, 2011As a church builder, Eden Religious Facilities is well aware of the significance of our projects to the communities we work within. This is illustrated in this riveting story about the journey of First Christian Church in Altus, Oklahoma.
On June 19, 2008 a lighting strike ignited a fire to the then home of the Altus First Christian Church. On this early Thursday summer morning, a handful of the members stood across the street from their church building of 60 years, and watched it burn to the ground despite the valiant efforts of the local firefighters. What seemed to be the most unfortunate of events at the time, led to a series of blessings culminating into all the factors being present to build a new church building on a freshly purchased land.
We are happy to share this series of photographs with you. As the saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
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Church Acoustics
September 6th, 2011Sounds matter in a church sanctuary. Singing and music is one of the most popular ways to worship today. An acoustic engineer is a team member we can bring to a church building project to help design a room that is the best of its kind acoustically so sounds can be heard just right. Not all projects though need the expertise (or the added expense) of an acoustic engineer so we at Eden Religious Facilities help your leadership determine if this is the best route to take in your church design and building construction.
It is important at the end of the day to hear both the music during worship as well as the pastor. Sounds do indeed matter.
How Do You Worship?
August 12th, 2011Building or expanding a church is a meaningful and important job. It is a job that Eden Religious Facilities does with a unique design process. Knowing the “hidden” costs that come up during projects our team will work with yours to offer the best recommendations for cost savings throughout the design and build. We aim to make the best recommendations so you can make the best decisions.
We work with those who know the vision and future of your church best-you and your members from the building committee-to make the design decisions in how you worship and what your building will need to reflect your church community effectively.