One my favorite parts of the conference was the tour and time of interaction at Fellowship Dallas. They purchased and renovated a mall and theater complex, converting it into a church. They did an incredible job, making the space warm and inviting.
Soon after entering the door I realized that this church is very much like what we are in the process of designing. It was as though we had walked into our architectural floor plans and were able to experience the space firsthand.
Their main lobby is very similar to our main street. All of their ministry areas, or neighborhoods as we call them, are located around the main first and second floor lobby. This makes it very easy to visually locate and navigate your way around the building. Their facility is 125,000 square feet which is the size we would like to build. Their worship center seats 1100 giving us a good idea of what a space this size would feel look and feel like.
I especially enjoyed the way they used color, materials and lighting to create a warm environment. I also like the way they have small seating areas scattered throughout the building. You can click on the picture above to see a slide show of the facility.
As we took the tour, met their staff and then listened to the presentation of their ministry, I realized that our two churches have much in common. We both value teamship and relationships among our staff teams. We both utilize small groups and mid-sized groups for helping people grow and develop community. And we both approach ministry in very similar ways.
Fellowship Dallas has creatively designed and built a facility to support their ministry. And incredibly it looks very much like what we too envision. It's as though our two churches were separated at birth.
4 comments:
Wow, it's not every day that you see an escalator in a church! I love the sitting areas and the coffee shop too. Linda E.
Two words - Warm.....cool!!!
O my gosh!!! it's deja vu all over again! I feel like I have been to this place from all our planning for the new facility. And the cafe - it looks like Panera! The worship center looks EXACTLY like one I would design if I were buidling a church!
Well, you can tell I am excited. More space means more people! More people means more ministry!
I can't begin to tell you how excited I got walking through the facility. I felt like I was at home, walking through our new building! The thing I like the best is how the building brings people together, providing informal space for conversations and small group meetings. It does what a good building should do, facilitate ministry!
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