Welcome to ChurchBuild

"We shape our buildings,

...and afterwards our buildings shape us."

Winston Churchill

People

Your Church is all about the people...

...so your buildings really matter!

Processes

‘Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labour in vain.’

Ps 127.1

Finance

"Fund-raising is proclaiming what we believe
in such a way that we offer other people
an opportunity to participate with us
in our vision and mission.

Fund-raising is precisely the opposite of begging."

Henri Nouwen

Church Anatomy

These are not building projects...

…but mission
projects

that
involve
buildings

Resources

Free downloadable resources

to help fit your buildings

to your ministry

Tradition

“Tradition is like giving birth,

not like wearing your father’s hat.”

Pablo Picasso

Welcome to ChurchBuild

This site has grown out of the belief that your church building has a significant impact on the life of your church, and that your building should fit well with your ministry. Our aim is to equip you to make better use of your buildings for the glory of God.

If your church is considering undertaking a building project you will find a wealth of useful information in the ChurchBuild Project Guide under the ‘How To’ tab – this provides a framework for developing and running a project. Look also at the Downloads section, where you can access free resources, including those referred to in the Project Guide.

Buildings for Mission handbook - coverBrowse through the other sections of the site where you’ll find a selection of other resources. We’ve recently added some advice and a video on Sustainability and Historic Buildings. If you find something useful on the site, or have suggestions for improvement, please let us know via the Contact page.

Check out Buildings for Mission, a handbook co-authored by Nigel Walter, which gathers together in one place all the things you wanted to know about church buildings but were afraid to ask!

“A huge thank you for this website and the help it has been [over the last three years]!  Our building project is now almost complete, but in the early days when we knew nothing, we were literally working through your guidance sheets at each of our meetings.  So thankful for them!”

Val Dickens, Hall Green United Community Church

Introducing the ChurchBuild Project Guide…

The ChurchBuild Project Guide is a collection of more than 30 articles covering many of the practicalities of getting church construction projects built. Start with the Welcome section, or dive straight into one of the sections. Here is a selection of some of the most frequently visited articles:

A Long And Winding Journey

Godspeed V by Jonathan Clarke, Bury St Edmunds, SuffolkA major building project is not for the faint-hearted! Here is an overview of some of the challenges. read more…

Building a Client Team

Build a client teamGetting the right people onto your church Building Group will be crucial to the success of your project. read more…

The Construction Process

4.4 Construction Process - flow graphicMost building projects go through the same basic stages. It is good to understand how these different stages fit together. read more…

Statements of Significance

100_8921-2 copy-1200A Statement of Significance is essential for any historic building – find out how to write one here. read more…

VAT and Church Buildings

VAT image20% on top of the construction cost is a lot more money to raise! Here is a guide to limiting the amount of VAT you pay. read more…

How to Raise the Money

DSC00492 copy-1200Church projects will often be funded from a variety of sources; this guide looks at where to find the money. read more…

Introducing Archangel Architects

Archangel Architects are a Cambridge-based practice with extensive experience of church buildings of all types and ages; they fund the development and maintenance of this site. To find further examples of alterations to church building see the projects page of the Archangel Architects website and social media.