A few scriptures come to mind on this topic.
Paul rightly states in 1 Cor 14:33 that, “God is not the author of confusion“. In this context, Paul was not referring to confusion in a building program, but we believe the precept is applicable.
And Jesus makes a very clear and direct reference to building in this passage from Luke 14:28, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost whether he has enough to finish it”.
Solomon makes it clear that there is a time and an order to everything in Ecc 1, which starts out in verse 1, “To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Don’t Be Like Over 2 out of 3 Churches Who Do It Wrong.
A church building program should usually begin with the church developing an objective understanding its Needs and Ability, which prepares the church for
Fund Raising, then
Architectural Design, then
Financing, and then
Construction!
Understanding Needs & Ability: Understanding what you need to build, what your land will support, what you can afford, and how to pay for your building program builds vision and unity in the body, and prepares the church for the next steps of fundraising, design, and construction.
Capital Fundraising Campaign: Our churches typically raise between 1 and 3 times their current annual receipts from tithes and offerings in a 3-year capital campaign. (Even in the current tough economy, churches are averaging 1.5 times their annual tithes and offerings.)
Architectural Services: Affordable church design that meets both your needs and building budget. All we do are churches and church-related facilities.
Church Financing: This is a tough economy in which to borrow; we can often provide assistance in finding the funding necessary to get your church built.
Church Construction: Our Open Book Construction Management delivery method lowers the cost to the church, and is designed to pass construction savings directly through to the church.
A study commisioned by the Rainer Group of over 300 churches that had just completed building programs showed a high degree of correlation between satisfaction with the building program and conducting a feasibility study. What was sad was that only about 30% of the churches did feasibility studies prior as part of their building program.