Over the last forty-five years, Dimensional Dynamics has served churches across the United States with architectural and planning services to meet their ministry and facility needs. This is our main focus and purpose – to serve churches in an area where they are in their greatest need. It is rare for a church to have expertise in church facility design, in the preparation of construction documents, and in the administration of those documents during construction. In fact this is not what they are called to do; so when our founder Rev. L. Gordon Bucy found himself in the midst of three different building programs at the churches he served, he realized that it was not just the church who was lacking in this expertise, but also the local architects who did not know how churches function.
Churches are a unique blend of members, the Body of Christ with all its differences when done well, work together in unison and harmony for one purpose, to spread the good news of the Gospel. But when the focus comes off of their purpose for being, confusion, in-fighting and control grabbing occurs. To many times as a church looks to provide facility solutions for their God-given purpose of ministry, confusion and frustration can overtake the process. This is why Rev. Bucy left his position as a Sr. Pastor and returned to college for a degree in architecture; to graduate with the express purpose to aid churches through the process of facility design and expansion.
A lot has happened over the last forty-five years. Church architects and planners have become big business! Just Google it – there are firms out there that will meet all your facility needs, in a huge “team-approach” full of specialist in every discipline of design and construction. They will design you monumental structures; elaborate stage, sound, audio-visual and lighting packages; and spend more money on your facility than you ever dreamed possible. It has become a level of entertainment that cost dearly.
As I continue to lead Dimensional Dynamics into the future, I struggle with what I see happening to the Christian Church and their facility needs. Young Christian leaders, looking at these mega-structures and saying to themselves, “That is what we are supposed to be – are we failing in our ministry because we are not that”? How am I supposed to redirect this thinking when it comes to reality? When it comes to needs over wants, manageable finances over immense debt. How is an architectural firm who specializes in serving church and church-related clients supposed to compete with the new church order of business?
How? I continue on with the purpose of Dimensional Dynamics, trusting the Lord that the services we provide are there to meet the facility needs of a growing congregation. We prepare realistic master plans – setting a vision for the church’s future. We then break that master plan into manageable feasible phases of construction that are based on the church’s immediate facility needs and financial ability. We leave a church with a hope for tomorrow, not overwhelming debt and a pretty picture of the facility they could have if only they had more faith or more money.
I work with churches that do not have endless funds, who need just a little more space for a ministry to meet their congregant’s needs, who have faith that those needs will somehow be met at a realistic level. Who know that we are individually called to be the Temple of Christ, and that their building is just another tool of ministry and not their focus of worship. This is how I compete with the new look of what church is trying to be in America; by serving each and every congregation I meet where they are; by guiding them gently to where they are being called; by aiding them with a process that they have never undertaken before – a process that I do each and every day of my life.
I am blessed to be part of Dimensional Dynamics and as I cast my eyes on the world around me, I realize that the gifts and talents given me from above has allowed me to be in the exact place the Lord wants and needs me. For that I am truly blessed and successful. For that I know the vision set forth years ago by Rev. Bucy for Dimensional Dynamics will once again be renewed.
If you are contemplating facility changes to address your ministry needs, do not hesitate to contact me. I will be there to share with you a process that meets you where you are, exactly where God has placed you.
John W.G. Rosecrans, AIA is the Owner and President of DIMENSIONAL DYNAMICS, Architects and Planners, Inc. located at: 237 Kirkbrae Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348. phone: 610.444.8680 fax: 610.444.8630
email: [email protected] webpage: www.dimdyn.com