3 Best Practices to Avoid Poor Planning With Your Church Building Activation

At Ministry Solutions Group, we’ve created our Clear Path Forward as a way to thoughtfully activate church buildings and get the most value out of ministry spaces. This is because, in a digital world where the way we do church is evolving, it’s critical that we take a smarter, multipurpose approach to our buildings. 

One critical aspect of Building Activation is longevity. As you tap into the potential of your church real estate, how are you positioning your church to thrive not just now but in the future? Without the right planning and strategy in place, it is difficult to successfully get the most out of your physical church spaces.

When you fail to consider the right things beforehand, this can quickly create additional costs in areas you don’t want to invest in. Lack of foresight can also create unrealistic timelines, and, worst of all, it can wander from your vision as a church.

Over time, as the Ministry Solutions Group team has created building activation plans for ministries of all sizes and stages of growth, we’ve found that a few strategic things are critical to keeping a plan focused and effective.

Be Comprehensive and Holistic With Your Budget

Churches are called to steward their resources wisely. Unless you’re a portable church, chances are your building represents one of your largest resource considerations — both as an asset and a liability. If you’re looking for ways to activate your building, like adding a childcare program or community center, you need to look at how this impacts your budget from a holistic perspective.

Let’s start with the costs. Assessing what you can afford to invest in is one of the trickier elements of building activation. Since you aren’t building a new building but rather re-using existing spaces, you need to have a comprehensive and informed perspective of the costs involved in any larger renovations. (Trust us when we say there are a lot of things that can sneak up on you.)

We always recommend preparing financially by splitting the process into two phases. Start with an information-gathering phase dedicated to exploring options and considering associated costs. Only when this is done should you decide on what makes the most sense to financially commit to as a church. This advice is simple, but trust us when we say that this is something most churches do backward, especially if they don’t have an experienced partner working with them.

Along with costs, you want to consider how an activated building project will positively influence your budget moving forward. This is where things like ROI (return on investment) and TCO (total cost of ownership) factor into the equation. As you consider things like thousand-dollar coffee machines or cutting-edge daycare software for signing children in and out of a program, stay holistic in your projections. 

Calculate costs and compare them to what kind of revenue these changes will generate. For instance, we helped Chase Oaks with a massive building activation project that included childcare, a cafe, and even pickleball courts. This led to dozens of new volunteers, thousands of visitors to the church’s campuses in and around Plano, and hundreds of thousands in net profit every year. Yes, the costs were there, but the upgrades fit the budget and led to a future increase in that budget.

Clarify and Align Your Vision With Your Building Activation

Ministry vision and mission are where the strategy element comes into the picture. You should never engage in a building activation process simply to increase bottom-line income for your church. Taking a “we have the space, so let’s use it for something” approach too often leads you away from the reason you exist as an organization.

The church exists, first and foremost, to cultivate a community of believers and foster their connection with God. In addition to that, it should be focused on outreach and community impact. The need and priority of this are important to consider.

Why? Because the traditional model has been for the community to come to the church. Now, the script has flipped. As we’ve worked with churches, the Ministry Solutions Group team has found successful churches in 2025 are using their resources to go out into the community and meet real needs there. To be clear, this shouldn’t supersede that primary God-focused calling. It should complement it.

Your church can (and should) use its untapped resources to meet real community needs and, in that process, draw attention to the larger spiritual work taking place within your building. This is where the strategic planning comes into the picture. 

Before you set any building activation projects in motion, make sure you’ve identified what your community actually needs. If you have an understanding of your budget, then you can compare what your local community needs with what your church can accomplish in meeting those needs. This process of clarifying your project ensures that you are maximizing its impact at every level and for all involved or impacted parties.

Pay Attention to Timeline and Team-Building Before You Start

The two other most important pieces of your strategic planning are your timeline and your team. Let’s start with timeline.

Once you know your financial capabilities, you’ve assessed your community needs, and you have an idea of how you can activate your church real estate to meet them, it’s time to map out the process of turning that vision into reality. What is the process that it will take to transform your weekend church spaces into weekday community spaces?

We’ve found this looks different for every situation, which makes it difficult to provide universal advice. However, understanding the timing involved is a critical piece of each project. Consult with professionals, get multiple opinions, and make sure you thoroughly understand what you’re getting into before you pull the trigger.

Your team is the last factor we want to touch on. It’s no secret that the people you put in charge of any church project will make or break it. The key here is to avoid falling into “we have a guy” mode. We’ve worked with many churches that thought because an elder or attendee did something at a smaller scale or two decades ago, they’re qualified to manage a project now. 

Please understand that building activation, while not necessarily expanding your spaces, is a complex, nuanced, and high-stakes activity. With all due respect to past accomplishments and current skill sets, it is not the kind of thing you want to entrust to someone out of kindness or even a desire to keep costs down. Make sure your team consists of individuals who know what they’re doing, have strong track records, and possess the practicality to stick to budgets while also adhering to church vision and long-term value.

Investing in Building Activation Strategy

Church real estate is big, expensive, and important in your church’s calculations. If you’re trying to get the most out of your church buildings, building activation is a good option. However, make sure you’re considering all of your factors before you break ground on any ideas. 

Review your current and future budgets. Clarify projects against church mission and vision. Create realistic timelines and recruit competent team members. If you can do that, you can create a plan and strategy that can keep your building activation project on the straight and narrow from start to finish.

If you’re looking for more church real estate advice or have questions about building activation, feel free to contact our team at Ministry Solutions Group. We offer free assessments that can help you clarify your vision and make sure you go into every project with both eyes wide open.