{"id":221,"date":"2011-03-05T09:37:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-05T14:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=221"},"modified":"2013-05-31T18:28:38","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T02:28:38","slug":"dont-build-a-church-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/dont-build-a-church-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#039;t Build a Church Building"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Want to know what kind of church facilities people prefer most? Back in 2008, <a href=\"http:\/\/daveferguson.typepad.com\/daveferguson\/2008\/03\/facilities-for.html\">Dave Ferguson<\/a> posted the results of a study done by the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Here is what he reported:<\/p>\n<p>Note: The answers do not equal 100% because I only listed the top answers and the survey allowed the respondents to give multiple answers.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In what setting other than a home would you be most likely to interact with a friend?\n<ul>\n<li>47% &#8211; &#8220;Sit-down&#8221; restaurant<\/li>\n<li>15% &#8211; Bar or night club<\/li>\n<li>13% &#8211; Coffee shop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In what settings do you feel close to God?\n<ul>\n<li>41% &#8211; &#8220;no where&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>40% &#8211; References to nature<\/li>\n<li>14% &#8211; Anywhere, everywhere<\/li>\n<li>10% &#8211; Church, cathedral, synagogue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>If you were to design and build a church building, what adjectives would best describe it?\n<ul>\n<li>43% &#8211; Open<\/li>\n<li>38% &#8211; Beautiful<\/li>\n<li>36% &#8211; Bright<\/li>\n<li>35% &#8211; Simple<\/li>\n<li>24% &#8211; Reverent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I think that Dave Ferguson was trying to provide guidance on what kind of church buildings we should construct, but I think that if we begin with the question, &#8220;Should we construct a building?&#8221; rather than the question &#8220;What kind of building should we construct?&#8221; the survey results indicate that church buildings might only get in the way of people connecting with God and each other.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to know what kind of church facilities people prefer most? Back in 2008, Dave Ferguson posted the results of a study done by the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Here is what he reported: Note: The answers do not equal 100% because I only listed the top answers and the survey allowed the respondents to give [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15,19,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-close-your-church-for-good","8":"tag-discipleship","9":"tag-theology-church","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don&#039;t Build a Church Building<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What kind of church building do people prefer most? 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