I am privileged to serve as president of Aspen Group, a leading church architecture and construction
management company in the Midwest. We are grateful for the opportunity to consult, design, and build for some of the fastest growing and most innovative churches in the US. In addition, I’m honored to speak regularly at conferences around the US, helping churches better leverage their investment in facilities to draw people, enhance ministry, and change lives.
More important though, God’s laid on the team’s hearts a passion to understand and align the following four ministry dynamics:
- Evolving Culture
- Relevant Ministry
- Empowering Leadership
- Intentional Facilities.
Alignment ensures a clear message from leadership, trust throughout the congregation, and healthy collaboration which is vital to minimizing headwind for ministry. In this challenging Post-Christian environment we cannot afford wasted energy or talent.
So what’s fueling this passion? We’ve discovered church facilities consume 40% of a typical church budget. Yet, we know so little about how facilities impact ministry or help us powerfully connect ministry with a rapidly shifting culture. Furthermore, spending on church facilities in the US has risen from $3.5 billion to over $8.0 billion the past 15 years. And believe it or not, even though we’ve increased spending over 200% church attendance has actually decreased from 49% to 47% of the US population.
There’s so much we need to learn which is why we’re making a considerable investment in the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Check out the tab above for further insight into this national effort to accelerate learning and in turn enhance ministry efforts throughout the country.
However, my most significant blessing and responsibility is my 29 year marriage to Annette. We have six healthy children ranging in ages from 16-28 and have also been blessed with four grandchildren (we’re missing a few in the picture here).
We are grateful how God’s spirit has been gracious in touching our children’s hearts.
Thanks for sharing in the journey with us.
Email: ebahler@aspengroup.com
Hi Ed,
I wasn’t sure if this was a good way to contact you.
The Cornerstone Conference was very informative. (I can’t believe it was a few years ago.) I would say we are still “visioning” and looking at feasabilty of expanding and are some time away from building.
Since God has blessed you with a wealth of resources, I was wondering if you knew of any books that would be particularly helpful in addressing the needs of what I have termed a “commuter” church. We are a small church (I think 150 members with 50% worship attendance, but don’t quote me) and we have families in 19 different communities. We all come because we share the belief that our church body teaches the unchanging, inerrant word of God. Because we are “commuters,” we find it challenging to build physical fellowship time with busy schedules as well as figuring out local outreach (because most of us are not local and the only time we spend at the church is for Sunday service).
Any particular resources that come to mind?
God bless,
Angela Meister
Bethlehem Lutheran, Carmel, IN
Angela,
I’m doing some research and will be back to you.
Ed
We’re going to make “About Ed” into a blog post if we’re not careful… Feel free to move/edit/cancel this post, if needed, Ed.
First a comment: Why not build on the challenge of coming from 19 communities and use it as something to celebrate? I can imagine “19 Days” as something your whole church could engage in together. Find a “host” from each community, have them each find a “sacred place” in that community (their home, a local “third place” indoor or outdoor, whatever) and invite the congregation to all gather there. Could be Saturday, Sunday afternoon, even a weeknight. But if you spread these over a year, what a wonderful journey it could be!
As for resources, you might find some of the “house church” resources helpful. Many of the authors in that space, however, are so committed to the concept that you have to wade through the apologetics to find what you’re looking for. Neil Cole’s Organic Church might be useful, especially if you’re willing to consider “going nomad” for awhile.
None of this is to take away from the good work of Aspen/Cornerstone. You may find that building an “anchor place” for your commuting congregation is just the right thing to do to facilitate community and mission. But the shape and even location of that place may be molded if you take the congregation out into the places from which your members come! And who knows what energy might be created by such a shared journey. Be encouraged; it seems that you’re asking the right questions.