Now that we are in the new facility, I thought it would be good to express our views on having a building. This is from CTK International’s Founder and Lead Pastor Dave Browning’s book Deliberate Simplicty:
Many churches think “living room” instead of “family room” and send out the vibe: “Fake it ‘til you make it.” In a Deliberately Simple church we work hard to maintain a comfortable atmosphere. We encourage people to “make themselves at home.” We think “family room” when it comes to the places we meet and even the colors and styles we employ.
A Deliberately Simple church takes a very utilitarian view of facilities and their appointments. A building is just a tool. It is not the church. The people are the church. We could meet under a tree, and still be the church. The building is not our focal point. The people are. For this reason we don’t like to call the primary meeting place a “sanctuary.” We say “auditorium” or the “meeting room.” We “deinstitutionalize” the facility. We want our facilities to be neat, clean and functional and nothing else. What is special is not the place. What is special is what happens in the place. We don’t use a “pulpit.” A metal music stand will do. We don’t need fancy, just functional. We maintain utilitarian facilites. By making it clear that we are not fixated on the surroundings, we help to reinforce that “this is really about people.”