Perfecting Church in Detroit, Michigan, led by Pastor Marvin L. Winans, is currently developing a 15-acre site on the east side of Detroit. Pastor Winans is well-known by his family’s successful gospel recordings; however, since 1989, he has been building this ministry in the heart of Motown City. The steady pace of growth is driven by a simple principle—“Perfecting Church: Where Ministry Means People.”

The church’s current location on Nevada Street seats 1,900 and has a 500-seat chapel on the same campus. The sanctuary is at full capacity for the services on Sunday and the Tuesday night Bible studies. Perfecting Church faced the common dilemma shared by growing ministries. Should we move or expand? And, if we move, where will we find land to accommodate our growth without losing our attendance?

Creative planning, the leading of the Holy Spirit and the foresight of a strong leader brought the church to, at first, a less than desirable area. The 15 acres was made up of several vacant and wooded lots. Now, however, it is home to a community project.

The church chose an area, sited by the city as blighted, and redesigned it to sustain a 36,000-square-foot administrative building, a sanctuary that seats 4,200, a chapel and a four-story parking garage. 

The new facility, only eight miles from the current location, took up a little more than four acres for the building’s footprint; landscaping, parking, access and egress used around eight. 

The master site plan took the 12 acres, shaped like a triangle, and completely removed one street and rerouted another around the back side of the facility. A third street was used as the main artery for its administrative offices. 

Truly the impact of this building program spans farther than the spiritual nurturing of this community. The church is positioned to generate a high level of commercial trade and financial commitment, and the landscape of this district will be considerably changed forever. The second phase for Perfecting Church includes developing the remaining three acres for multi-family housing.

The church spent $8 million to acquire the 15 acres of land. Securing the land and the legal re-description of the property was the first major expense. The conceptual design for the new facility came with a price tag of $2 million and created a pause in progress that Perfecting Church needed to re-evaluate this endeavor. The building details and

requirements were bringing in the constructions estimates at more than $50 million, a cost over-run of more than $10 million.           

When spending funds of that size, the balance of integrity and assurance that you are designing and purchasing the building that merits the decision should be grounded in wisdom and prayer. Pastor Winans turned to Roe Messner, an experienced church architect and builder, for a second opinion.

The two had met more than 15 years ago, and Pastor Winans had grown to love the designs of several churches built by Messner. He had even said himself that, “One day, Roe will build my church.” 

In 2003, the review meetings began to take the building program that the church wanted and pair it with the budget and design that would make the project a success. Messner was able to trim the construction design to meet a $36-million tab, and the church still got the edifice of magnitude and square footage desired.

The brilliance of this building has a brush stroke of life for this area. Arial photos of the area show the desertedness of this community. More than 20 existing building were removed to begin construction. The building promises to bring not only the Word of Life—its presence will bring life to this section of the city.

The sanctuary’s west elevation, the elevation that faces the main thoroughfare, touts a three-story entrance covered by stained glass, enclosed in white brick veneer, with centerpieces of a cross between two steel columns. Out front, a decorative commercial fountain captures and directs attention to the main elevation. 

The building’s exterior is a yellow buff brick veneer, accented with the same white brick used for the main elevation. The four-story garage, attached by the masonry veneer, picks up the brick pattern and forms the only rectangle building on the property. 
 
Gallery seating allows for the entire first and second floor to not be separated, keeping the bulk of the audience close to the platform. A double-radius stairwell descends from the third floor balcony into the grand foyer that provides standing room for 2,500 and access from the 982-car parking deck. 

The grand foyer, seating capacity and audio design allow for concert performance and accommodations. The church did not design the sanctuary for use as a designated concert hall; it just worked out that way because of the nature of their worship style. The pastor just happened to be a national recording artist. 

Too often, churches fail to complement their worship style with adequate sound quality, acoustic design and technology, but Perfecting Church has invested in their digital sound

system. Donnie Haulk and Audio Ethics are the design engineers for the new sanctuary.  The system is considered, “Rider Ready,” which means that the loudest and most technically difficult musicians and singers could walk into this church, and the sound system would easily accommodate their concert requirements.

Perfecting Church plans to use the current location as a performing arts center. The facility has been renovated since its purchase in 1997 and is ideal for concert performances.
 
The relocation of Perfecting Church enhances the entire commercial architecture. Urban redevelopment is always a focus of all three levels of government--local, state and federal. The need to change the impoverished and crime-ridden areas motivates the incentives offered to any organizations that have the potential for change. Perfecting’s move yielded local incentives for the tangible and intangible benefits brought to the neighborhood.

Teaming up with Messner made it possible to make the project work. Experience and trust are the greatest factors in building a church.

In Messner’s book, Church Growth by Design, he emphasizes the need to hire a professional architect that has designed and built churches of equal and greater value. The church is the ultimate prey of overzealous architects that charge for and put together conceptual designs that do not meet the church’s needs or budget.

Messner has been building and designing churches for more than 50 years and counts it an honorable service to the body of Christ to help plan for effective building programs.  I

Perfecting Church broke ground on their new facility in January, and the schedule completion date is set for December 2007. The honor is shared by both Roe Messner and Pastor Marvin Winans to work together on one more building program for the kingdom.

Mario Hodge is a project developer for CBA, Inc., www.cba-rm.com. He works closely with churches to develop their building programs, facility floor plans, designs and budget.

In a Nutshell

Church: Perfecting Church
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Project: Develop new site to sustain a 36,000-square-foot administrative building, a sanctuary that seats 4,200, a chapel and a four-story parking garage. 
Size: 15 acres
Challenge: The 15 acres was, at first, a less than desirable area, composed of several vacant and wooded lots.
Solution: The master site plan took the 12 acres, shaped like a triangle, and completely removed one street and rerouted another around the back side of the facility. A third street was used as the main artery for its administrative offices. More than 20 existing building were removed to begin construction. The relocation of Perfecting Church enhances the entire commercial architecture.