I was recently meeting with a small church (about 18 people) who were passionate about reaching their community. Their passion led to an incredible action. They contacted a larger church and asked them, “What would happen if we turned our facilities over to you so you could start another church here?”

As I was talking with them, one gentleman kept asking, “You have seen the facilities of the larger church, do you think they will be warm to our facilities?” The more I thought about it, I realized he was asking the right question but directing it to the wrong audience.

It really doesn’t matter if the large church is warm to their facility. What matters is this: What do the people they are trying to reach think about their facilities? Do guests refer to the children’s ministry area as “the dungeon?” If so, at the very least you will want to consider a significant face lift. However, effectively addressing this issue will more than likely require a major renovation/addition, or complete relocation.

Facilities are one of the most significant challenges facing churches wanting to reach a post-Christian culture. To a culture that views the church as irrelevant, many church buildings scream “dated.” In other words, the style and architecture of your church facilities may be one of the most compelling reasons people decide to drive past you rather than visit you. The children and youth facilities–or lack thereof–may be the very thing that keeps people from coming back a second time.

The dilemma: Facilities are expensive. They also have a large amount of emotional attachment of the members of the church.

When it comes down to it, facilities are the measuring stick of our willingness to reach people. Just about every church will tell you they want to reach lost people. Most of them, however, are not willing to pay the price to grow.

The next time you sit down to have serious discussions about how much money to spend on improving your church facilities, ask yourself this question: how much is a soul worth?