Our archdeacon has encouraged us to undertake a feasibility study for possible alterations to our church building. Can you tell us what we should do, in addition to the archi­tect’s work?

ALTERING your church may be the result of some bright ideas about the church’s future use. But it is time, as your archdeacon suggests, to find out how such ideas will work in practice.

Before you get your architect to do any drawing work, tell him or her, in broad terms, what you are thinking. Your main job will be to outline ex­actly what you need to do, and how you want to do it.

Spend time on a review of your local community. Some idea about its needs can be discovered by research done at your computer, but more specific information about gaps in services may be obtained from talking to other agencies, organisa­tions, councillors, or health-care providers. Voluntary-sector groups can also tell you about their percep­tion of needs.

Then, with some idea of what might be needed, it is important to test out what people actually want, because, unless people are prepared to come to the activity you provide, your altered building will be empty.

Send people out on to the street, at different times of the day, with clip­boards and questionnaires, or get them to have, for example, a table at a fête, or in a market square. The ques­tions should be carefully crafted so that you can assess the level of interest. Hold an open day on a weekday, staying open through the evening so that workers can come, and/or hold one on a Saturday.

You may find that people would be interested in a variety of activities — not all of which you would be able to provide. This leads to another inter­nal assessment. Shortlist activities from the external review to discover among your members what they would most like to support.

An older congregation may not be so keen on the idea of a youth club, but could be supportive of a pre-school children’s programme, for example. But some ideas, such as a programme for homeless alcoholics, may cause parents to worry about the potential risks to their children. Certain programmes might not be acceptable on one day of the week, but, at a different time, might work.

You should, after your research, be able to quantify the need for the activities that you would like to provide in your church. You may, for instance, need a meeting room for 40 people, and also a large open space, or hall, for more than 100. You may need occasional refreshments; or you may have identified that you need to cook meals daily for 40 people. You can then meet your architect to talk about the facilities you need, and the architect can come up with solutions.

This route is more likely to result in well-designed, well-used additions to your building space. Remember, however, to add all your pastoral and liturgical work to the list of facilities and times of use required when you talk to your architect.