Estimating A Budget For A New Church Design

When you start thinking about a new church building project, it's easy to get caught up in big dreams of what you want your church to look like, the amenities you want it to have and the size of your sanctuary.

But when those dreams are brought into the harsh light of a budget and the need to raise funds for the project, it can be a little difficult to reconcile your hopes for the building with your budgetary reality.

That's why it is so important to try to figure out exactly what your church design project is going to cost and what kind of fundraising you can do before you get too far into the design process.

Talking with an individual who has experience with building projects from the ground up can give you great insight into what kind of building you might need in terms of square footage and what that sort of a building might cost.

This is one reason it can be helpful to set up a building committee in the early stages of your church design process, or at least send out a call in your congregation to determine if anyone has this kind of experience. If not, you might be able to talk to a church designer or even other ministers who have recently built churches to see what their budgets were for their buildings.

Developing a budget will require you to know what you want your church building to do, how it is going to serve your congregation and your community, and having an estimate of the square footage you will need.

If you're going to need to buy land, that will be an extra expense. Look around for land that might be the right size for your project, or contact a real estate agent to determine what land is going for in your area.

Once you have an idea of land costs and how much your building will cost based on your square footage estimate, add about 30 percent to that total. You never know what might come up that will change your plans, and there are many costs related to utilities, infrastructure, parking, permits, landscaping and other details that will add to your monetary requirements.

When you have that figure in mind, look at your current income and how much money you can reasonably expect to raise in the next year or so. As much as possible you will want to spend your own money rather than taking out huge bank loans for your church building project, but it is not always possible to finance an entire project with cash. The key is to be in a good financial situation when you go to talk to a bank about a loan for your project.