Architecture offers the modern church endless possibilities for transformative storytelling.
Churches of all sizes can revitalize their facilities through inspiring narratives that draw people closer to one another and closer to God. Every aspect of your facility, from its landscape architecture to the indoor graphics and theming, has the potential to tell Christ’s story.
Nestled in the heart of Trinity, Florida, just outside Tampa, Generations Christian Church is on a mission to profoundly impact its community. Beyond its current campus, Trinity Commons, Generations envisions a thriving downtown development focused on amateur sports.
Through Trinity Commons, the church has already experienced Sunday morning attendance growth. Its campus is active throughout the week and includes a CrossFit gym, ball fields, sports facilities, a coffee house and spaces where community members can spend time together. Generations Christian School is also located on campus.
“We have families and visitors every week that are part of our church and small groups and children’s programs that have come to worship at Generations because they initially came to CrossFit, or enrolled their child in one of our schools, came to a game on one of the sports fields, or brought their toddler to the splash pad, or came to a community event,” says Johnny Scott, senior pastor at Generations.
“When we step into the community and connect with people deeply through something that they already love, they can’t help but draw closer to God in real and kingdom-spreading ways.”
As Generations’ campus has thrived, its leadership team began to dream bigger. How could the church inspire a more extensive community beyond its already built spaces?
Through strategy, master planning and visionary leadership, Generations set out to breathe life into a vision bigger than Trinity Commons. This new downtown center will be built not only for the local community, but also designed to attract people from all over the country and all walks of life.
A New Gathering Space
Generations is creating the downtown Trinity of the future—but the mission goes far beyond downtown, and the vision is truly God-sized.
For centuries, the Christian church served as a leader in art and culture around the world. While the church is less of a cultural driver today, opportunities still exist to reengage the community by telling stories through architectural spaces that bring people together. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with church attendance still down in many places, churches can attract members through the stories they tell with their facilities.
“If the church is going to get people back to in-person attendance, it needs to be back at the center of the village again,” says Jeff Damron, senior vice president of master planning and design at PlainJoe, A Storyland Studio. “The church needs magnetic spaces, and we create magnetic spaces by starting with story.”
The pandemic’s isolation and separation impacted the mental, physical and spiritual health and well-being of countless individuals. In shaping the story of Trinity’s new downtown, Generations is creating an environment that nurtures individual wellness on a holistic scale. My team at PlainJoe stepped in to help imagine, design and create this space.
“Seeing God work through how we can touch our community has led to a vision to go even bigger,” Scott explains. “One of the biggest ways people connect in our community is through sports. In fact, our county has been recognized as Florida’s Sports Coast, and yet there are [still not enough] places for exceptional tournaments, organized sports and even recreational play to happen.”
Generations’ ambitious vision for the development includes multiple sports complexes and facilities, residential areas, mixed-use developments, and hospitality and retail, dining and entertainment venues.
The development is set to establish Trinity as the epicenter of Florida’s amateur sports culture. Although sports will be a major focus, the downtown development will promote community building, physical well-being and spirituality.
“We originally brought in PlainJoe because we wanted our church campus to be a place that blesses the community with the love of Jesus seven days a week,” says Scott. “Expecting people to come to a service one day a week to connect them with Jesus is simply not enough. It’s not what Jesus did. He came to us. It is that same incarnational example that moves us to go to our community.”
Generations’ presence near these new facilities gives the church greater visibility and influence over the events and activities that will take place there.
“Hosting sporting events on the church grounds, and now in an entire sports town that’s a gift to the community from the church, allows Generations to not only have a voice in the scheduling of many of those sporting events, but it allows us to provide them with a new measure of excellence in something that they already love,” Scott says.
He continues, “It also creates a proximity and familiarity with the church campus that’s helping to connect people to Christ and driving attendance from people who are using the coffee shop, CrossFit gym and play areas and bringing their kids to sporting events there so that they might be comfortable to take that next step in faith toward [Jesus].”
Ultimately, Generations’ vision is to envelop the community in the love of Christ, connecting them to him through the sports town’s variety of touch points.
“Every sporting event, every interaction at the coffee shop, every gym workout, is an opportunity for Generations to love on people and connect them to Jesus, which causes them to get curious about ‘what’s different about these people’—a living-gospel model that impacts lives and includes them in the discovery conversation of faith,” Scott says. “The newly expanded footprint will create a multiplier effect on the impact the church has seen already from its Trinity Commons expansion.”
Telling Your Story
As Generations moved forward with its development plans for Trinity, it’s clear that this destination will be an elite experience all its own. With the church at its helm, this development has the potential to transform lives and souls. It’s a testament to the endless possibilities available to today’s church.
Any church can create a physical space that points others to Christ. You don’t have to be a megachurch, and don’t need millions of dollars in funding or a sprawling campus to make a difference. Churches of all sizes can significantly impact their communities through the stories their facilities tell.
Even small churches with limited budgets can use Spatial Storytelling (PlainJoe’s particular approach) to speak to the heart. Depending on your budget, you can start by refreshing existing facilities, adding graphics and theming to tell a story within your walls, or even building onto your campus in stages. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for an outdated space. Alternatively, a seemingly small update, such as redesigning your kids’ ministry area or refreshing your lobby, can make a big difference.
Your church facility isn’t just a building. It has the potential to bring your story to life and inspire others along the way.
Learn more at GenerationsCC.com.