%1

Scripture assures us that “we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” But pastors and lay leaders end up spending a lot of time fussing with the church structures—the “physical plant,” as we have learned to call it. Designing, building and maintaining structures have occupied the church’s attention, inspired its imagination, and called forth labor and sacrifice perhaps more than any other set of tasks.

American church architecture is wonderfully varied.