Designing for Community: The Missional Home Base

Written By Derek DeGroot, Aspen Group Architect

Each year we get better at designing Third Place spaces, crucial spots that are rejuvenating and welcoming.  But there must be more to this architecture- something that embodies being both fishers of men and making disciples of all nations.  

Redesigned lobbies are trending today in churches nationwide, being transformed from people movers to hotbeds of activity.  We have succeeded in including our third place space more routinely than ever, but now we must focus in on the mission of our church to obtain the sense of community we strive for.  Our identity, our stories, equipping places, and the opportunity to interact with the church must all be accounted for within the relational spaces.

We create this “Missional Home Base” to offer an experience that rejuvenates people through relationships, adequately portrays the Mission of the Church, and allows the opportunity to get involved.  By doing all three in the same space, we can eliminate the time lapse between being impacted and impacting others.

Only the Mission of the church will distinguish our facilities from retail centers like Starbucks and Panera, and turn the consumption mindset into the giving mindset God intended for our lives.  This is the path to a true sense of community.

Future Travelers….When Normal Isn’t Good Enough

There are times in life when we no longer can accept the ineffectiveness of what has become “normal” and our passion drives significant change. The “Future Travelers” effort was launched with this holy discontent of normal; a normal that has fostered a consumerist mindset as well as a church culture with which up to 60% of our community is unable to connect.

Alan Hirsch and a band of mega church pastors could no longer accept the decline of the church in Western society. As a result, a joint effort called Future Travelers was launched to develop missional movements. These movements create disciples as well as connect with the 60% who are not being reached by current models of ministry.  

Aspen Group’s CEO Ed Bahler, was invited by Alan Hirsch to help facilitate Future Travelers.  Ed, who is often described as a visionary and learner, has spent the past decade focusing on how aligning vision, ministry, leadership and facility space can powerfully enhance ministry.  He welcomed the opportunity to be a part of the Future Travelers initiative and has since helped launch two new groups. There are now over 30 pastors who are being trained to become the next phase of leaders who will develop more incarnational and missional expressions for their churches.

Here’s a list of a few characteristics that describe a Future Traveler:

• Fully surrendered and trusting God for leading their church
• Feeling a holy discontent with the status quo
• Committed to discipling and transformed lives  
• Passionate about reproducing ministry beyond their church walls
• Experienced in pioneering initiatives to transform their community

For more information on Future Travelers visit http://www.missional.com/

Apostolic Christian Church of Indianapolis One Year Ministry Story

Crossroads….the place where roads intersect.  And that is how Indy AC describes their new Fellowship Hall that was added a year ago as part of an Aspen Group project that included both an addition and renovation of their church.  “We are so blessed to have such a beautiful space to worship and serve together.  Our new church fits us so well and accommodates all of our programs and ministries in a flexible way.  The details are elegant and simply gorgeous,” stated Building Committee Member Mark Beebe.

A church that puts high value on worship, connection, and serving, their prior space presented significant barriers to taking their ministry and programs to a higher level.  A 270-seat sanctuary was added, providing a beautiful, traditional space for worship.  The design included the new fellowship hall, located adjacent to the sanctuary.  It not only serves as the crossroads to all other parts of the church, but also offers the adaptability to be used for overflow seating where people still feel connected to services in the sanctuary, has provided a richer experience for special services, weddings, and baptisms.

Its adaptability was utilized when a recent statewide youth event was held at the church with the focus on connecting and serving.  Gathering first at the church, 120 young people from across Indiana came together for a community outreach project.  Many felt it was their best youth outreach project ever, partly because the new ministry space provided ample room to connect first at the church and easily move to different areas to prepare for the day.

“Hometown Nazareth” their VBS theme last summer, came to life with new dimensions and elements made possible by the new Fellowship Hall.  The ceiling heights in the new space allowed for temporary theming and partitions to be hung, something they had not been able to incorporate before and the “crossroads” lay-out provided an easy flow from activity to activity during VBS.  The results were an enriched learning experience for the children.

A warm, inviting, beautiful church is a good thing, but when that is combined with the vision of the church being captured in the design of each ministry space, then people can worship, connect and serve in even greater ways. 

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him

It is really where it all started, isn’t it?  The birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we celebrate the miracle of Christmas, we take time to pause and reflect on what His birth means to each of us. His love, grace and mercy abound today and every day. 

As we enjoy the festivities of Christmas…..decorating the tree, the giving and receiving of gifts, our family traditions, and amazing food, we remember that it’s all about relationships. Especially the relationship with God made possible through that baby in the manger. 

We hope you are able to take time out of the busyness of the Christmas festivities to appreciate all of the important relationships in your life.  The Aspen Group team wishes you a merry Christmas. We are thankful for the relationships we have with you on this blog, with our churches and ministries, and with our collaborative partners.

Attractional & Missional; A Swinging Pendulum

Written By Derek DeGroot, Aspen Group Architect

Matthew 4:19 Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me.  I will teach you to catch people instead of fish.”

Matthew 28:19 So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations : baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

These two pieces of scripture have shaped the church of the last couple decades, birthing both the  Attractional movement and the Missional movement.  For some time, the pendulum has swung far toward Matthew 4:19, as we have become better Fishers of Men than ever before.  However, as some of the leading megachurches are finding today, the pendulum is beginning to swing toward the instructions of Matthew 28:19 as we become increasingly aware of the need to disciple His people.  The Missional Church embodies this effort.

Click to EnlargeRecently the Missional movement has begun to invade the Attractional church, filling the gaps in their disciple making while at the same time, the churches dwelling in a disciple making mode struggle with how to attract the lost.

As we move forward, these two opposite ends of the pendulum may meld into a church that can take us through the journey Jesus layed out for us, where we “Come and See”  (Connect) “Follow” (Disciple) and “Make you Fishers of Men” (Equip).

The Alignment of Facilities and Ministry is necessary to maximize the efforts of an impactful church, so we turn our attention to what the role these facilities have in the swinging pendulum.  How does a facility aid to Connect, Disciple, and Equip people?