Schools can provide a great location where your church can grow, thrive, and impact the community. We’ve seen hundreds of churches successfully launch in a school location and deepen the relationship with the school year after year. One of the best reasons a school makes a great venue is because there is a good chance they will already have some of the equipment and resources you need for your Sunday services. Let’s take a look at some of the resources and necessities you need to discuss with the school administrators when going through the agreement process:
Does the school have the resources and equipment you need?
Seating
If the auditorium has built-in seating options, it can be a huge bonus! Seating can be pricey and very difficult to store. It is also possible that the school has their own stackable/removable seating you can use. If you are able to use this as a part of your agreement with the school, make sure that you will be guaranteed the same number of seats each week. If you have to bring in the seating, negotiating on-site storage in exchange for the school being able to use them during the week can be a win-win for both parties!
Wifi
You need to make sure that you have access to wifi if your equipment requires it. Some schools offer this for free, but be sure you are able to use your software without the schools (often stringent) filters causing issues.
Equipment
You might find that the school or auditorium already has some of the equipment you need. Keep in mind that this can be both a blessing and curse. The equipment could be old or poor quality, and is likely being used by the school during the week (especially during production weeks). Any issues that arise, regardless of whose fault it actually was, can strain the relationship with the school (again, especially during production weeks). School production weeks may also give you surprise ‘stage elements’ that you and your team will have to work around (or have fun working into your message!). Still, being able to use the school’s equipment can lower costs. (Did we mention production week issues?)
Air-conditioning
As you do your walk through with school administrators, be sure to learn if heating and A/C is available during your meeting time. If you are going to meet in a gymnasium be especially aware if it has these elements at all!
Some of these may seem like they are a given, but they have been surprises and ‘show-stoppers’ for many churches. These are just a few of the things to be looking at while dreaming of what your church plant will look like. Fun stuff, don’t you agree? Next week in the series we will be looking at what kind of permissions you will have at your venue. Sign up for our blog below to stay up to date on all of our posts for this series and others.
No one gets excited about these little details like we do. We are truly church-planting and portability nuts. This series has a ton of details, but still only touches the things you should lookout for. We love these details and exist so that you don’t have to spend all of your time worrying about them. Instead, we want you and your team to be able to focus on building your church and inspiring the people you serve. Tap into over twenty years of experience in turning any type of venue into an incredible worship and community space. What kind of venue will you be meeting in? Contact us (link) and see how we can help!
To learn more about what to look for in a venue, check out these posts:
Does the school have the space that you need?
