Community Church is a bible-based evangelical Christian church with two campus locations, Greensburg, IN and Batesville, IN. The church selected Mantel Teter to serve ministry and space needs at both campuses, with a major focus on the Batesville campus. Unique to this campus is its location context. The church purchased an early circa 1900’s building with historical value in the downtown core of Batesville.
Fellowship Bible Church, located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is starting construction on their Phase 2 Children's Building addition which will provide additional classrooms, a large group auditorium for kids and other ministry groups, additional office space, and a renovated and enlarged lounge area for hospitality and gathering. The church returned to their original design build team of Mantel Teter and Dow Smith Construction.
Christ Community Church’s Downtown Campus is currently occupying leased space located in the Crossroads District, the center of the arts community in Downtown Kansas City. The church is an intergenerational collection of individuals and families from different communities purposed for the flourishing of Downtown KC.
As the church began to run out of space, they began searching for other facility options that would better accommodate their current and future needs. After researching several different location, the church identified a 2-story 20,000 square foot building located at 208 West 19th Street in Kansas City, Missouri as a potential new home.
Kansas City, Missouri’s Crosspointe Baptist Church joined forces with Belton, Missouri’s Manna Fellowship Church, who relocated to a leased facility near the intersection of 58 highway and 291 highway east of Raymore, Missouri. The church’s mission is to “…elevate God in our personal lives, church, community and world.
The newly formed church experienced explosive growth that put pressure on the facility’s ability to support ministry. With the desire to provide facilities that would support further growth, the church selected Mantel Teter as their partner in discovering the facility type, size and location that would meet their immediate and future needs.
Taking advantage of the current environment surrounding COVID-19, with church services being held online only, Evangel Church has begun construction on their platform and back-of-house remodel. The new elevated platform is backed with a 36’ wide video screen wall, with updated sound system and room acoustics. The back of house now includes a green room, production suite, and ample side-wing storage with direct access to the platform. The goal is to be complete when services are once again held onsite!
Construction is well under way at The Summit! The church is very excited to see steel erection for their Phase 2 building addition, which includes a chapel space, offices and meeting rooms. With perimeter walls going up, the addition is starting to take shape! Construction is scheduled to be completed near the end of this year. The project's contractor is A.L. Huber Construction.
Theatrical lighting gets much of the attention in the design of church and worship spaces. But architectural lighting (including house lights in performance spaces), both functional and aesthetic, deserves the spotlight, too.
Architectural lighting is designed to blend seamlessly within any space, such as providing focused downlight or accenting certain areas of a room. This lighting can be comprised of recessed, track or surface-type light fixtures that add a personalized touch or complement specific characteristics of a church’s design.
Church.Design queried church architects and a manufacturer or two to learn about the role and offerings of architectural lighting in lighting projects.
When architect David Evans was asked to renovate the Antioch Bible Baptist Church in Gladstone, Mo., he was given the task of transforming the three-building campus into a new seamless space featuring a state-of-the-art children’s center. “Our first task was to form a leadership committee [that] would make the project a reality, comprised of people with specific areas of expertise such as construction, finance or business,” says Evans, president of Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm Mantel Teter. “Stylistically the structure was not relevant, and we required many voices, from the architect to the pastor.”
The centerpiece of the new space was a children’s ministry building, designed to create awareness and attract families to the church. There was a need for expansive spaces that catered to large groups and encouraged community fellowship. The new lobby voiced “the art of arrival” as a space for connecting and promoting connection and conversation. The expansion was welcome--the new design greeted nearly 1,000 congregants on Sunday.
Blue Springs Christian Church strives to be responsive to the spiritual and physical needs of the Blue Springs, Missouri area and others around the world. As the face of ministry changes, the church places emphasis on re-aligning their facility environments with felt needs in the community.
Over the last several years, Blue Springs Christian church has been faced with challenges presented by outdated facilities and less than adequate spaces in which to do ministry. Recognizing the importance of offering a fresh and relevant worship experience to continue their growth, the church selected Mantel Teter to help them explore options to update their existing worship space, platform, and back-of-house areas.
Skyler Phelps, AIA, senior vice president of Kansas City, Mo.-based Mantel Teter, says the “new normal” is not that different than how the company has been working with its out-of-town clients over the years.
“In this uncertain time, we are continuing to utilize web conferencing technology to advance the development of facility improvement projects, which prepares churches to bring needed ministry space online as quickly as possible,” he says. “People gravitate to churches during difficult times. Churches that continue planning processes will be better positioned to meet the felt needs of the communities they serve.”
The Summit Church - located in Lee’s Summit, Missouri has begun construction of their second phase building addition that includes church offices, meeting rooms, and a chapel with the design-build team of Overland Park, Kansas based contractor A.L. Huber Construction and Kansas City, Missouri based architect Mantel Teter. The project is expected to take approximately one year to build.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the team at Intentional Churches gathers weekly to discuss the latest From the Front Lines of Ministry. We are using ChurchOS to stay clear and focused. See how other church leaders around the country are using ChurchOS as they navigate the new normal.
Mountain Lake Church - located in Cumming, Georgia, recently selected Kansas City, Missouri based architect Mantel Teter to lead them through a metrics analysis, discovery and design process to update their campus master plan at their Dawsonville campus. The church will be renovating existing space for worship, connection, children, and other support areas. "We’re excited to see the growth happening at this new campus location and to be serving this church once again; helping them repurpose great existing space that will create a relevant custom tool for their ministry!" commented David Evans, the Principal for the project.
A message from Intentional Churches:
We are living in unprecedented times as church leaders. Now more than ever, we need to be clear and confident about our decisions and strategies for eternal kingdom impact.
Jesus’ mission to make more and better disciples remains (Matthew 28:19-20), but now we are a church distributed and increasingly isolated. God’s strategy to grow the church remains the same but how do we innovate in a rapidly changing environment?
We are going to gather leaders on the front lines of ministry to discuss real-time strategies day by day, and week by week. These leaders are using ChurchOS tools and principles like the Great Commission Engine and the Six Domains of Church to stay clear and focused under the duress of COVID-19.
Here are the leaders we’ve convened who are using ChurchOS in this pivotal season of ministry. They will be sharing their real-time strategies as this crisis unfolds.
Jill Gille - Eastside Christian Church - Anaheim, CA, Lee Coate - The Crossing, A Christian Church - Las Vegas, NV, Mark Brewer - Oaks Church - Red Oak, TX, Matt Wright - Willow Creek Community Church - Chicago, IL, Matthew Robinson - First Baptist - Orlando, FL, Ron Sylvia - Church @ The Springs - Ocala, FL, Doug Cowburn - Elim Gospel Church - Rochester, NY, Sy Huffer - College Heights Christian Church- Joplin, MO
Please watch our first conversation below…
Stay tuned, and tune in often. Let us know how we can be helpful during this season. We will be featuring these video conversations on our website soon, for free, along with resources we find useful for ChurchOS churches.
We are praying for you.
Bart, Doug, and the Intentional Churches Team
By Rusty Lewis , Generis
For this weekend's services, be sure you get the offering moment right!
This past weekend we saw many of you working tirelessly to move your services online. We know that it's not an easy shift, especially if your church does not regularly meet virtually. Thank you for the work you have done to ensure your community was able to worship together. We are so proud of the church.
Although some of you adjusted with ease, a weakness we saw among almost all services was the offering moment. The rhythm of this season is a different one and we don't know how long this season will last, so this is the time to make adjustments.
Watch this video of Jim Sheppard sharing his insights and advice on how to ensure you do not fumble this crucial moment during your sunday service.
Valued Clients, Partners, and Friends,
During this season of uncertainty and everyday changes, our entire team at Mantel Teter is carefully monitoring all factors which impact your ability to keep your church’s facility projects moving forward. There is no single response that best fits, since we serve a variety of church clients.
Let us remind you though, we want to serve our clients and potential clients with the highest respect and care for your needs. We will honor your precautions in this rather unprecedented time. The “new norm” is helping many of us realize that much can be accomplished through video conference and phone communication; in turn, keeping your projects moving forward, even in these uncertain times.
Lifesong Church - located in Sutton, Massachusetts, recently selected Kansas City, Missouri based architect Mantel Teter to lead them through a metrics analysis, discovery and design process to update their Sutton campus master plan. The church will be adding NextGen ministry space and renovating existing space for offices, SEU academy, and other worship support areas. "We’re so thrilled to be back partnering with this great church serving the New England area and witnessing all the growth happening at this campus location and 2 other campuses!" commented David Evans, the Principal for the project.
Abundant Life identified Blue Springs, Missouri as a growing and underserved area where they could make a difference. The church selected their long-term partner Mantel Teter Architects to help them identify a location that would be a good value and ensure long-term success. It was decided at the onset that the most impactful use of the church’s ministry dollars would be to renovate and existing structure rather than shouldering the cost of constructing an exterior building shell and site infrastructure including site grading, stormwater control, utilities, parking and lighting.
By Carey Nieuwhof
It’s not all gloom and doom. I’m an optimist.
You can always find the opportunity in every obstacle.
And yet, I get it. It’s easy to get discouraged about the future of the church.
While the world seems to be falling apart, so does the church.
Attendance in many places is shrinking, not growing. Even committed Christians are attending less often (here’s why). And young leaders aren’t exactly flocking into ministry.
And often we shoot ourselves in the foot, with everything from Pharisee-like self-righteousness to downright stupid things Christians do (here are 5).
There are some characteristics that will be true of all churches that grow in the future. The more closely you align with principles like these, the more likely it is you’ll reach more people.
I won’t include things like prayer and Scripture in the list because I hope they’re foundational. The five listed below are, well, less obvious.
As you think about the future and how you need to change as a church, here are five characteristics of opportunities you have that might really help you grow.
Lawson Baptist Church - located in Lawson, Missouri, recently selected Kansas City, Missouri based architect Mantel Teter to lead them through a discovery and design process to update their campus master plan and add facilities. Immediate facility needs include a family life center and additional space for lobby & gathering. "We’re thrilled to be back with this church team for Phase 2 & help them develop and design new facilities." shared Brian Rathsam, Project Architect for the project.
