Making Property Serve Mission: Re-thinking the Church's Buildings for the 21st Century

by Fred Batterton, Hadyn Bernau (Contribution by)

Overview

If you are a church leader looking to construct a new building, seeking to adapt or enlarge your property or facing the reduction or liquidation of your buildings, Making Property Serve Mission is the definitive resource you are looking for.

Opening with a compelling discussion of the Christian church’s core business, architect Fred Batterton considers different types of church property and their impact on mission, enabling us to assess whether our church buildings are a help or a hindrance. Drawing on his wealth of expertise Fred Batterton then explores with us the opportunities that buildings can offer, processes that enable development, options for financing and the outcomes that can be expected.

This book offers answers to the following questions:

• What is the Church’s core business?
• What property do you have?
• How can property serve mission?
• Is my building a help or a hindrance?
• What are our opportunities?
• Who has the skills to help?
• What are the basic design considerations?
• What are the processes?
• How can we pay for it?
• How should we proceed?

The book is richly illustrated with 77 colour illustrations and follows a logical sequence of understanding, concluding with frequently asked questions and a call to action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780995387508
Publisher:	Studio B Architects
Publication date:	12/06/2016
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Fred Batterton studied architecture at Oxford and is now a senior architect and director of Studio B Architects in Australia. Before this Fred was co-director of the award-winning Batterton Tyack Architects in the UK. His background includes researching the needs of contemporary churches in the UK, US and Australia. He has a special interest in how spaces impact upon the relationships of the users and how they benefit their core business.
He has also worked on university buildings, aged care projects, individual and multi- unit housing including affordable housing and many other project types. Adaptation, repair and extension of heritage buildings has been a significant part of his work.
Fred believes that new work should be designed and constructed to complement an existing heritage building of quality. It should be respectful piece of 21st century architecture, cleverly performing its role whilst making its claim to be of this age.
Fred has worked with heritage church buildings in the UK and Australia, new suburban churches and has master-planned a mega-church. Alongside the experience of conservation and adaptation of heritage buildings he has also worked with developers to maximise development value and has applied this to the benefit of the church as landowners.
He believes that new buildings should respond to their setting with confidence. Every building has a responsibility to contribute to the environment sustainably, practically and aesthetically.
Fred was a churchwarden for nine years in a UK Oxfordshire Cotswold parish after which he became a member of St Aldate's, Oxford. Following this he immigrated to Australia where he has been a member of St Michael's North Carlton and a past Church Council member. Fred is married with five adult children and four grandchildren.
Fred is passionate about how good quality design can improve life for the users of buildings, making them more effective and sustainable facilities and creating real value and enjoyment.

FIAA (Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia). Leader at Cause Way. Contributed to Part Nine: How can we pay for it?

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part One: What is the Church's core business?
Chapter 1: Worshipping God-loving with heart, soul and mind
Chapter 2: Make disciples and teach
Chapter 3: Loving your neighbour
Chapter 4: Love one another
Chapter 5: Mission analysis methods
Part Two: What property do you have?
Chapter 6: Church with borrowed property
Chapter 7: Heritage buildings
Chapter 8: The 20th century church building
Chapter 9: The warehouse church
Chapter 10: Mega-church
Chapter 11: The property rich and cash poor church
Part Three: How can property serve mission?
Chapter 12: Sacred space and secular activities
Chapter 13: Encouraging relationships with God and one another
Chapter 14: Street art and public relevance
Chapter 15: Sharing and sustainability
Chapter 16: Your local mission issues
Part Four: Is my building a help or a hindrance?
Chapter 17: Testing the property inventory against mission
Chapter 18: How did it come to this?
Chapter 19: Being wise stewards
Part Five: What are our opportunities?
Chapter 20: Being clear about heritage
Chapter 21: Heritage building location
Chapter 22: Multi-use opportunities in heritage churches
Chapter 23: Drivers for change in heritage buildings
Chapter 24: The opportunities for new buildings
Part Six: Who has the skills to help?
Chapter 25: Roles within the church
Chapter 26: Obtaining professional advice
Chapter 27: Ask others who have completed their buildings
Part Seven: What are the basic design considerations?
Chapter 28: Entry and welcome
Chapter 29: The foyer or narthex
Chapter 30: Worship auditorium design
Chapter 31: Appropriate rooms for gathering
Chapter 32: Kitchens and toilets
Chapter 33: Accessibility, storage, health and safety
Chapter 34: Heating, cooling and energy generation
Chapter 35: Natural and artificial lighting
Part Eight: What are the processes?
Chapter 36: The missional master plan
Chapter 37: Integrated mission and development master plan
Chapter 38: Design and construction
Chapter 39: Master plan and maintain
Part Nine: How can we pay for it?
Chapter 40: Return on investment
Chapter 41: Funding to buy and build
Chapter 42: Releasing property value
Chapter 43: Shareholder renting
Chapter 44: Taxation and financial control
Part Ten: Troubleshooting and frequently asked questions
Chapter 45: How to encourage commitment
Chapter 46: Familiarity and comfort in the status quo
Chapter 47: Dealing with dissent and fear of member loss
Chapter 48: The too hard basket, delay and inertia
Chapter 49: Managing gatekeepers and stormtroopers
Chapter 50: Spending on buildings for us or giving to the developing world?
Part Eleven: Conclusion
Chapter 51: Mission enabled
Chapter 52: The call to action
Appendix
Projects referred to
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
About the author

Editorial Reviews

"This splendid resource provides an invaluable set of tools with which to re-evaluate the place of property in our missional planning and liturgical formation, whatever our size or situation, and rekindles our longing see to the Church re-equipped and re-energised to speak the good news with relevance, power and grace."
Richard Giles, Author of Re-pitching the Tent, Formerly Dean of Philadelphia Cathedral

"As church communities seek to engage with their neighbourhoods in the 21st century context, it is vital they are equipped with an understanding of how they can maximise existing or new property. Fred Batterton's expertise, insight and wisdom in this area are a gift to the wider Church. I highly recommend this valuable resource."
Daniel Bullock, Director of Mission & Ministries, Baptist Union of Victoria

Reshaping a building so as to make it serve a new generation is a vital challenge for every Christian congregation. Fred Batterton has not only succeeded in helping numbers of churches to do this, but has also written a fascinating rationale for those who are wondering about whether they should engage in such a work.
David MacInnes, former rector of St Aldate's Church, Oxford

When it is time to do something with your facilities the thinking Church leader will take some time to look at this book. Written by a practitioner it is a wealth of insight for those looking for greater missional assistance through their facility.
Dale Stephenson, Senior Pastor, Crossway Baptist Church

From the Publisher