| You’ve seen the real estate ads emphasizing the importance of having a home close to all the conveniences of school, shopping, work, and leisure. The same applies to the church. Your church building was originally constructed on your site because at the time it was a good location to accomplish the mission of the church. Years later, the only thing good about a location may be that the members still know how to find it!
If all things were equal, and money was not an issue, where should your church be located? Before you renovate, consider this:
a) Your primary mission field is defined by the average distance people in your neighborhood or community drive to work and shop. Today, that may be as far as you can go by car, on any road or highway, in 35 – 60 minutes.
b) Businesses would say they want to be accessible to their market … and churches would say that they want to be accessible to their heartburst. They want to locate in such a way that the micro-cultures for whom their heart just bursts with a desire to reach, can easily see them and come to them.
c) A single site almost never reaches all the potential heartbursts a church might have. Therefore, think multiple sites. And as you think multiple sites, make sure that any location you own can be readily sold … allowing you to move the mission and follow your heart (burst!).
Now begin to decide whether you should renovate where you are, acquire a new site of ministry, or relocate completely to a place where your mission has the greatest chance of expanding.
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