Participation is Stewardship, Not Ignorance...

Are you considering a facility project and are paralyzed just
thinking about all the loose ends before you've even started?

Then join us in the process: messy, real and invigorating.
Its all in the timing and the balance.

Our talent and passion is focused on the worship environment. Since our founding in 1987 we gradually developed a dynamic integrated design, construction and stewardship process in pursuit of timing and balance. While our process is principal-based to be fluid, dynamic and open-ended, it is also results-oriented. We know that a facility, at the end of the day, well... facilitates, in this case, the ministry of the church immersed in our current culture. You know, that whole "in-but-not-of" thing. Since we serve only churches, the integration leading to proper balance and timing comes from experience with the following pieces of the puzzle:

Stewardship

This isn't just fund-raising. It is so much more than that. Facilities facilitate ministry because they provide a physical place for exciting things to happen, "where two or more" can come together. Biblical stewardship is a crawl, walk, and then run process. In our process the realities of the leadership landscape are discussed before any pen touches paper (crawling.) Then the pace quickens, widening the circle to the next level of leadership/discipleship (walking.) The real questions are discerned, discussed and addressed so that by the time the running starts, everyone is in shape, exercised and ready to go the distance.

Worship Environment

In the "standard" process of building a church, the steps are compartmentalized: an architect is selected to design the building, who then turns it over to engineers to design the sound system. By then, any impact that the natural acoustic and lighting qualities of the space could have are significantly reduced - often to a small fraction of what they could be. And these qualities are difficult, expensive and, in some cases, impossible to recover with technology.

In our process we actually begin like designers did hundreds of years ago, with the natural qualities of the worship environment. Combining this with a philosophy of technology based on your DNA and direction forms the basis for the project. Then we build from there. If worship is participation, not performance, then why does the body language of so many of our worship environments say "sit back relax and enjoy the show?" The "concert hall church" is an oxymoron. We're about recovering the lost art of intimacy and connectedness in worship environments.

Architectural Design

While our national-award winning design acumen is impressive, it is not nearly as important as making sure the facility serves your ministry, and not visa-versa. The best way to ensure this is to involve the people who will use the facility in the design process - wow, there's a concept! Architecture is but one facet of the environment, albeit a very important one. Since 1987 we have designed interactively alongside over 300,000 people partnered in their ministry, usually 50 or more people in each church. Sometimes even hundreds. And we know that it is important to honor the heart of the leader so that when the facility is complete, it is the right thing, in the right place, at the right time.

Local Contractors

Is it possible to be a Christian and be involved in construction? We would hope so! And in order to put trust with that hope we partner alongside local contractors from the very beginning of the process. The budget battle is won and lost in the "pre-construction" portion of the project. A very important part of our process is our "ministry of construction" theology that mutually honors craftspersons, technicians and engineers with the respect due to them. In the actual construction process this is accomplished by involvement of local construction delivery methods with respect to local values, traditions, culture and relationships. Remember that the actual act of construction is an extension of your ministry. In the design and blueprint process, we recommend that you involve local contractors as an integrated part of the design team in the studio alongside our architects. This maximizes pro-active constructability and cost control issues from start to finish in the design/blueprint process, which avoids the expensive and time consuming "value-engineering" after the design has already been completed. Talk about timing and balance...

Timing and Balance

If this intuitive, interactive comprehensive process of timing and balance sounds familiar, it actually is. It is very similar to how facilities were planned, designed, built and paid for before everything and everyone became linear, specialized, inherently disconnected and isolated and well, modern. We've simply added back the singular integration of the ancient world while honoring the plurality of the specialty disciplines of our global post-modern world. And we've restored the collaborative factor where those who will actually use the building are involved in its creation. So the timing and balance thing is logical, right-sized and tailored to your specific ministry. Our role is that of "paraclete" (Greek) - coming alongside in a co-creative role. You have heard it said that it's all in the timing? Well, the real key is timing and balance in the daily juggle of life in the reality of a postmodern world.

Welcome to CALLAHANSTUDIOS Professional Family. How may we help you?