Your Church is Not a Mr. Potato Head

Written By Derek DeGroot, Aspen Group Architect

Mr. Potato Head - that classic American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a few attachable plastic parts to make a face. You know it…its been revitalized countless times in popular culture.  And it always seems to work.  An eye here, an ear there, no matter the combination it seems like Mr. Potato Head looks good to its creator.

In the church building world however, a Mr. Potato Head ideal can make your building a real mess.

We all have toured the latest building and said to ourselves, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we had that at our church?” Or...”We need to make our church look like this Starbucks!” How about... “This Apple Store would be an awesome church building!”

The reasons those designs worked well for their owners probably will be far different than what might work for your church. Your church is not a Mr. Potato Head.  It has an extremely unique DNA, your congregation holds very unique gifts, and no two buildings - or even building sites for that matter - are the same, unlike the mass produced toy.

The reason a building works is buried in layers well beyond the surface aesthetic.  It’s a partnership of why and how, and of choosing the right parts from endless options, not from a few choices that come with the famous Hasbro toy.

Next time you tour a building that works, ask why it was designed that way, not just how it was built.