This article is part 2 of 4 of a series focusing on the four main ministry spaces of a church facility. Church Facility Solutions (CFS) helps churches create or re-purpose existing facilities for future ministry growth.
What’s the first thing someone sees as they enter the church, besides the parking lot – the entry, lobby, atrium, foyer or narthex, depending on your age or your denomination! In early days, the entry hall was where all new members and guests would meet and gather. Today it’s also true – the lobby is where all the “socializing” occurs and the lobby is the “welcoming area” to the sanctuary. If first impressions spoke volumes about your church, then the lobby is a key component of the expansion or construction of your worship center or sanctuary.
It is important to design a lobby area that accommodates both current and future attenders. It’s an area the needs to be warm and friendly and inviting to attendees.
With our experience in church facility design and planning, there are four areas that a church needs to consider in designing and planning a church lobby.
- Social and Relationship Building
Let’s face it, the worship area is primarily a place where one-way communication occurs- from pastor to attender while the lobby is where interactions are formed and maintained. A church cannot underestimate the value of providing a place to encourage interconnected relationships. The lobby should be a comfortable place to linger to grow one-on-one relationships.
- Traffic Flow
The flow of people moving in and out of the worship areas from the Lobby must be well considered and is extremely important. You want your visitors to have a favorable experience and not to be bottle necked on their journey to the auditorium. You want your regular attenders to be able to easily encounter their friends and have places to visit before and after worship.
- Alternate Meeting Space
The Lobby should be designed to accommodate special events and meetings when its not desirable to “fire-up” the main auditorium. This need may arise should there be a desire for a smaller venue, or perhaps if the auditorium has theatre style, sloped floor. The Lobby is a place where a mobile stage can be brought out and easily set up. It should be designed with connections to audio and visual components. It should be closely aligned with a large storage area for the stage and for tables and chairs.
- Welcoming to the Community
The Lobby must also be a place where the community at large can get an inviting first impression creating the desire to learn more. We have previously observed and written about the success that outwardly focused churches have in growing and keeping member attenders. This must be considered in the design and decoration of the Lobby.
Seeking Professional Leadership
If you’re considering a church facility project, then the Church Facility Solutions team would like to help. CFS work with local churches to create strategic facility expansion plans, including multi-site facility expansion. We are a full-service commercial real estate development organization committed to serving churches. This vision aligns with our principals’ personal values as followers of Jesus Christ.
CFS provides a variety of services, including strategic planning, financial feasibility, site or building selection, capital campaign leadership , financing (as owner’s representative), project team selection, project and construction management (also as owner’s representative), furniture, fixtures, equipment, audio, visual, lighting procurement, and move coordination.
For more information on Church Facility Solutions, check out us out at https://churchfacilitysolutions.com or contact us at info@churchfacilitysolutions.com.