At Trinity we are currently putting together a building committee.  This team will guide the planning process of building a facility for the church.  As I type that, I realize what a loaded statement that is.  We need to ask questions like – who is the church? if a church has a facility, what is that facility for? What does it mean “for the church”? does that mean its not “for” anyone else?  What about the local community? the city? the world?  Is this building not “for” those constituencies?

Whose needs?
Who is the building for, and what is it meant to do?  Whose needs, and what needs will it meet? This might seem obvious.  I tend to think most people will say that it meets the need of the church in having a place to worship every week, it provides meeting space, a place to have studies, rehearsal space for music groups, office spaces. Without a “permanent home” all of these things are a challenge, but really we manage to do all of this right now without a building.  A building might make all of these things easier, but we’re already doing them now.

For me the building is less about our “needs” as a church and more about the needs of the neighbourhood around us. So, do we need to do some kind of needs assessment?  Certainly we ought to talk to people in the community about what their needs are and how we can help out. But will the building be guided solely by what they say?  If they say “we really need a gym, because there is really limited space for kids sports” will we automatically try to build one?  I’m not saying we won’t try to build one – maybe we will, but maybe not.

More than Felt Needs
What we build needs to be built based on more than just “felt needs.” Felt needs are things like – “we really need office space, because its annoying working from home”, or “we really need a gym because our kids have nowhere to play indoor sports.”  There is more to following Jesus than just meeting felt needs.  Jesus definitely met people’s needs (healing the sick, feeding the hungry etc), but he did way more than that.  He showed people who God was, because he himself was God, He laid down his life and rose again  in order for people to receive forgiveness and new life.  This is more than just addressing a “felt need.”  People weren’t walking around saying “we need salvation from our sins” or “gee, I wish I could have a closer relationship with God” – they were concerned about living in an occupied land, they were worried about paying taxes, they were struggling with sickness and hunger.  Jesus helped them with those things, be he also said “come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, for I will give you rest.”  That wasn’t about fixing anything – that was about people finding their rest in Jesus himself (not in a miracle that he performed).  He also told people to pick up their crosses and follow him in a life marked by sacrificial love. They were called not just to have their needs met, but to be servants of others – Jesus asked this of regular people, not just is closest followers.  So, the Church is called to serve, but the Church also acts as the voice of Jesus calling others to serve alongside.  This means that a church building can’t just exist to serve people’s “felt needs”, it needs to exist to help them serve others too.

Built on Vision
The building of a facility is about vision, and not really about needs.  Certainly “felt needs” need to be taken into account, but they can’t be the driving force.  The vision needs to be.  We believe that we are a people called to help others become and be followers of Christ, and that means helping people live lives marked by love for others.  We need to build a building that will help that happen in our community.  We need to build a building that when people walk in, they are likely to know that this is a place and a people who are all about caring for and helping others.

Some might argue that Jesus healed first, and fed first, and taught later.  That if Jesus were doing things he would build a building that helped people first and then allowed them to learn about service, sacrifice, forgiveness later. But Jesus actually did all of these at once.  When he healed people, he often said to them “your faith has made you well.”  When he fed the 5000, they weren’t there because they were hungry, they were there because they wanted to hear Jesus teach.  Jesus met people’s needs, led people into deeper relationships with God, forgave people, taught them, and asked them to serve others all at the same time.

We certainly have a challenge ahead.  It will be exciting.  Let’s make sure we approach all of this with prayer and patience to see where the Holy Spirit will lead.