Why a building?
A local believer shares her perspective
There are important cultural reasons why meeting publicly is important in our country. Meeting in a church building reassures visitors that what we are doing is open and trustworthy. It is against the law to have a private religious meeting in a homes, and this is to prevent the creation of terror cells. There is a cultural perception that if you meet in a home, you have something to hide; but if you meet publicly, you are happy for anyone to come and hear and weigh what is being said. We don’t want people to hesitate when it comes to hosting or attending; we want people to feel safe when they enter the house of God, not worried that they are at risk of joining a extremist group or at risk of a police raid. We want to communicate by our actions that the teaching of Christianity is open, safe and transparent with nothing to hide.
Meeting in a church building signals to people that this is a place to help them on their spiritual journey. As mature local believers, of course we understand that we ourselves are the church; the church is not a building, but the people that make it up. When curious locals seekers want to find Christians to answer their questions, however, often the first thing they do is find a church building and turn up on Sunday. Many of us local believers started our journeys that way. It makes sense then, to have a permanent, easily findable location that ‘looks’ like a church to make it easier for seekers to find us.
Owning our own building frees us to focus on ministry instead of constantly relocating. Many landlords are reluctant to rent their building to a church. In a worst case scenario, the landlord may persecute the church in various ways simply because his building is being used as a church. A church like ours may often be forced to constantly relocate, looking for a rare combination of a kind landlord, affordable rent, and a building of the right size and type – one with a sanctuary we can all fit in; Sunday school rooms for our many children; a large-scale kitchen and fellowship space. We have now grown to the size where we may even have to leave this community in order to find a viable building to rent. But we want to establish a permanent place in the community so we can get on with the work of loving our community well!
At this point, we need our own building for the stability, health, and growth of our church. Wrestling with such barriers puts a heavy burden on our church, especially the leadership. Buying a building will remove these barriers and free us for greater fruitfulness. Remaining in our current neighborhood will strengthen our already positive reputation as a place of worship, both among our own church members and the surrounding community.