Kick-off of the Master Planning Project
This past weekend we witnessed the kick-off of the Master Planning Project with a short presentation given by Dan Saavedra & Guy Gehlhausen. In their 25-year association they have successfully worked on more than a hundred church affiliated projects for many different denominations. They briefly touched on some of the reasons why Master Plans make sense: focus on priorities, the wise use of resources, teamwork, spiritual growth, and provide a framework to evaluate carefully & to celebrate successes. Their experiences with past projects are summed up with the mantra “If we fail to plan, we plan to fail!” Dan & Guy recognize that Master Planning is difficult because we are “digging into a future that has not been written.” It was also pointed out that the better the planning is on the front-end, the more cost efficient the entire process becomes; last minute changes can add up quickly. Behind the scenes work has commenced on the first phase that includes the review and validation of population growth through 2035, review of local zoning & code requirements, field investigation of existing conditions of current facilities & grounds, and the presentation of questionnaires to ministry heads, church leadership, and school administrators. The questionnaires are designed to collect input from the perspective of those groups. While this work is going on you might begin thinking about the types of things you might want to share with the architects. Next week will take a look a look at how each of you can participate in the process.
