Recent Articles
Portable Staging Platforms Showcase Their Value to Churches
Church Solution Magazine Online, Posted 11/11/2008
To be good stewards, successful churches are always looking for ways to do more with less. This is especially true during challenging economic times. Portable staging platforms enable churches to stretch their facilities – and budgets – by providing the flexibility to handle different productions and events. While portable staging is most commonly used in the worship space and fellowship area, ministers and architects today are also finding that portable staging platforms or risers can serve a wide range of needs throughout a church. (more)
Mission and purpose inform church design trends - Church Executive, January 2008
A variety of architectural styles help churches enhance ministries and foster community.
As church leaders begin to consider the design features that they wish to include in a new
building, campus or renovation project, they usually explore options with an architectural design team. After sitting across the table from a variety of church clients in these discussions, I’ve seen several trends emerge. (more)
Mount Paran Church of God - Church Business, October 2007
When Mount Paran Church of God began construction at their Atlanta facility, the master plan only included remodeling of the existing buildings and construction of a new parking structure. But once it was realized the previous structures were not adequate to accommodate the renovations, Marietta, Ga.-based CDH Partners Inc. designed a brand-new campus... (more)
Take a Seat: Four Principles for Selection Seating for Youth Areas -
Worship Facilities, Sept/Oct 2007
When you take your first peek at youth areas in a church building, depending upon the wow-factor of the wall design, you may or may not notice the seating. There probably will not be seating in the traditional, row-upon-row of pews sense of the word. But because social interaction ranks high in importance to a vibrant youth program, attractive, versatile seating is essential. And possible, says Paulla Shetterly, associate principal for the interiors department of CDH Partners, Marietta, Georgia. Attractive seating adds a contemporary, "with it" ambience to youth spaces. And boring seating detracts from it. (more)
Liturgical Interiors as A Modern Explanation of Tradition -
Church Executive, September 2007
A broader definition of liturgical or “traditional” church includes those churches committed to honoring the orthodox Christian traditions and symbols.
In an age of the “mega church,” the “seeker-friendly” church and other innovative concepts that strive to reach the “lost and disenfranchised” through the downplaying of the traditional forms and symbols of worship, there remains a strong contingent of churches and individual Christians who prefer to remain true to their long-standing Christian traditions particularly through those familiar, long-standing forms and symbols of worship. (more)
Facilities Design: Exteriors - Worship Facilities, July/Aug 2007
Sermons convey little if they are not relevant. Praise bands sound out of place if they are not relevant. High tech gear is useless if not relevant. Church buildings, too, can appear obscure if not relevant to modern needs and functions. (more)
From Office Space to Neo-Gothic Landmark - Church Executive, May 2007
Recognizable Atlanta, GA church transformed from an insurance building into welcoming worship center.
For anyone who has traveled south through Atlanta in the last decade on Interstate 75, one church has become a landmark that signifies you are officially in Atlanta. The Church of the Apostles hasn’t always been so visible. (more)
Trends in Architecture - Worship Facilities, March/Apr 2007
There’s no doubt that the architecture of religious facilities is changing. Most new worship centers bear little resemblance to the facilities we remember from childhood. And the diff erence is more than simply style. While one can generally spot architectural trends of a decade, the new breed of religious facilities goes beyond -- with much of the change in form being driven by a change in function. Worship Facilities recently interviewed several top industry professionals to fi nd out what is driving the shift. (more)
