What is the general culture of the facility? Is it conducive to your ministry aspects? Will using this facility cause you to forfeit a portion of your vision? Do people like the building you're considering meeting within?
What is the aroma of this building? Nightclubs, gymnasiums and older YMCA’s can have a lingering or stale odor that you just can’t cover with a backdrop.
- I used to attend a Portable Church® here in Royal Oak. We were utilizing a Saturday-Nigh-Only-Dance-Club for our Sunday services. The positive parts? Everyone knew where it was, there was plenty of parking and it had an incredible stage. The negative? The smell of cigarettes and liquor and body odor often lingered from the night before. We loved the venue so much that we mobilized a few volunteers to come in a little earlier on Sunday to clean and air-out the building. It worked, and it was totally worth it (to us). Not every church will make the decision we made, but we made the right decision for us.
Next, where are the restrooms? This is a two-fold consideration.
The first is simply a question of acoustics. First – trust me - no one wants to hear the sounds of toilet flushing during the sermon. Make sure are restrooms available for use that are both far enough away from the “sanctuary” to avoid disruption and are still convenient for your members.
The second consideration has to do with the size of the fixtures. Using preschools, nurseries or elementary schools can lend itself to also having to take advantage of small, child-size fixtures. There may be other restrooms in the facility that are not as diminutive and may be available for use. Ask your landlord to show them to you. If you come to an impasse with these competing values, your Portable Church® Consultant can help you figure out the right choice. By this time, he’ll be familiar enough with your values to help coach you in the right direction.
Finally, what is the overall layout of the building? Is it generally conducive to a first-timer being able to navigate, with simply the use of signs? Where is the sanctuary in relation to the children’s areas? How far will a parent have to walk to pick up / drop off their children? This is very important if you are going to be serving communities with young families.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at the pros & cons of different types of facilities.
