Many churches are birthed in somebody’s home or basement, and before long they become known and grow. A more public and accessible location is then needed. Very few churches can start and support a building program. Consequently, meeting places of choice tend to be places which have large meeting rooms that are not used on Sundays, such as the local public school or a Christian school or even a cinema. It is unrealistic for a new church to buy a building when they have no giving record to qualify them for financing. The degree of commitment of the new attendees and members is not really known at this point, so any debt obligations would have to be underwritten or co-signed by some of the church’s leaders. 

Another issue regarding building is that the rate of ministry growth is not known. Some church plants have opened their doors (that is, when they “went public”) with up to 120 people attending and grew from there at a significant rate (check out the history of Willow Creek Community Church  or Saddleback Community Church ). For this reason, it’s more practical to start out in a rented facility that’s used Sunday’s only, and rent a seven day per week, small Office for church administrative functions. Regal Cinema has a program that is ideal to this end.  It is worthwhile to note that one of the largest churches in America – Saddleback Community Church, pastored by Rick Warren [see Purpose Driven Ministries] was in rental facilities for 12 years and moved numerous times before having its first building. By this time, they were a large congregation and financially solvent enough to make a significant investment in land and building construction. 

So the guidelines for church plants would be: Don’t rush things, be flexible, look for rental facilities and tap into resources like portable churches to help you get started. 

When it comes to choosing a location for your church plant there may not be as much choice as when you’re looking to settle down permanently. (You may have to settle for what is available in terms of Sunday morning rentals, rather than picking the desired geographic location). In general you should look for well known or easily identified locations for the people you are trying to reach. For instance, if you are looking to attract families with young children of a particular socio-economic group, locating in an elementary school in a neighborhood typical of this group, would serve you well. Conversely, if you’re looking to attract Gen-Y people in their 20’s that are mostly unmarried, the cinema may be best. 

If you are meeting resistance trying to use a public school, it is important to note that equal access laws are in your favor. What this means is if the school is used for the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or other similar community programs, it also has to be available for religious uses. If you are encountering difficulties in this regard you can contact organizations like the Becket Fund  or the American Center for Law and Justice for further information. 

How long you can stay in the rental facility varies according to your needs, and growth. Remember that Saddleback did it for 12 years, and that didn’t stop them from growing. Yes, it’s true that it’s taxing on volunteers, but if you’re reaching new people for Jesus Christ, their service is an investment in eternity.

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