A higher art: Building on faith

Equipped with a modest parcel, member donations and the dream of a beautiful sanctuary, many neighborhood congregations are hungry for the perfect house of worship where they can hold religious services and provide social ones.

Before undertaking a costly and complex construction project, Scott Loughridge of SR Construction advises congregations to seek guidance -- then contact an experienced contractor who can help them master plan their houses of worship.

Some faiths, such as the Mormons and Roman Catholics, may count on centralized planning and resources when new congregations move into an area or are in need of expansion. Others, however, have only a grassroots building committee -- usually comprised of novices to the construction business -- and the head of the congregation, such as a pastor.

"You're lucky if one person on the committee has building experience," Loughridge said. "For the most part, they are volunteers. (The general contractor) must teach them (the building process).

"When you look at your neighborhood church where they have a congregation of 300 and a plot of dirt, they really need help through the design, building and financing stages."

The task of planning and building a worship facility is not an easy one, according to Loughridge, and depending upon the services it provides, developing it can often be quite complex. Loughridge, who has served as a design-and-build contractor in half a dozen church construction projects, said additional facilities such as classrooms, day care and housing can fall under state regulations that the house of worship must be ready to meet.

Loughridge's first church project six years ago was the addition of a day care to the Calvary Community Church, located at Torrey Pines Drive and Brooks Avenue, a job referred to him by a subcontractor. Since then, word of mouth has brought him seven more contracts, all but two of which he has already completed. Several of these have been facilities for child-related services.

"Increasingly, churches are becoming much more than places of worship," he said. "Many contain family-oriented services such as day care, preschool, school and social halls. Some have even added senior housing."

Even worship services themselves have evolved over the years. Many new churches have been designed to consider acoustics, audio-video capabilities and other features aimed at enhancing the worship experience. Structured wiring and sound boards between the rear pews have become commonplace. There's even a trade magazine, Technologies for Worship, devoted to the trend.

Loughridge said such amenities have become common nationwide. In fact, he points out that some communities have gone several steps beyond. He cites a church in Oklahoma City that features a bookstore, room for divinity classes and even a coffee bar.

The trend toward technology has reaped an unexpected benefit for many churches. Cellular telephone companies, Loughridge said, often lease space within bell towers for their relay systems. Many worship buildings are designed for it.

"That's the perfect example of modern technology crossing over with churches," Loughridge said.

Tradition is still alive and well, however, Loughridge points out. Although churches commonly reflect the architectural aesthetics of the community where they are built, they often feature a configuration that reflects traditional design, such as a cross pattern or a central courtyard.

Like any other structure, a house of worship must obtain financing, acquire real estate, go through design review with local government, and meet building and occupancy codes. They are allowed in almost any area with a use permit, but are most commonly constructed in residential areas. Large-scale developers usually allocate land for neighborhood churches.

Before getting ahead of themselves, Loughridge said a congregation should consider short-term needs and long-terms goals. Most congregations build as they grow, but are best off to develop a master plan early on and stick to it. Not-so-little things, such as present and future parking, need to be considered. A project should be broken into phases.

Loughridge said the projects he has done are typical of neighborhood churches, ranging from $850,000 to about $5 million. On average, a church will be built in phases measuring about 10,000 to 14,000 square feet.

"Their resources are limited, so they can only go one step at a time. They'll need to look at what they'll want five years down the road, but they have to be realistic with their phasing," he said.

Most congregations building a worship site from scratch start with a multi-purpose room, providing them a stop-gap measure for all the services they plan to provide. More luxurious facets of the site usually must wait. Form literally must follow function.

"What we're seeing is some sort of multipurpose room where you can have all sorts of activities for members, ... then the day care where the church can have an income stream, and then the jewel is the sanctuary," he said.

Not all congregations build from scratch. In and around downtown Las Vegas are a variety of houses of worship, some of which are former businesses or homes and still resemble their former use. Ultimately, houses of worship are defined more by the services they host than by the houses that host them.

SR Construction, based in Las Vegas, builds a variety of projects, including schools, parks, office buildings, clubhouses, and retail and health care facilities.

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