Serves 10,000
3,100 seats in worship center 
1 community space – coffee bar included 
Multiple innovative children’s experiences Signage, as needed 
1,900 volunteers each Sunday morning 
Ample portions of prayer

1. Design worship center so that the dimensions allow each person to have an unobstructed view of the stage. By making the seating almost a semicircle, congregants can look across the room to see the faces of fellow worshippers and have an authentic sense of fellowship. Make the stage height such that vocalists, dramatists and the pastor can have eye contact with the congregation; don’t make the stage so high that people have to crane their necks to see the leaders. Include high-definition monitors so that people in the back of the room can clearly see the expressions of the people on the screen and be drawn in to what is happening on stage. And finally, make consideration for lighting that allows the technical team to adjust the lights as necessary for appropriate effects and ambience.
2. Expand the community space exponentially so that important and intimate conversations can be had without being swept away in the current of people coming and going from the worship center. It’s a sure bet that you’re off to a good start when you add a coffee bar and ample comfortable seating. Accent the room with an incredible cross that extends from the ground, through the ceiling and into the sky, and a water feature that brings in the tranquility of a babbling stream. Once initiated, the community will expand to fit the area.
3. Measure a generous portion of creativity and combine it with solid biblical teaching to form a family experience like no other. Bring parents into the kids’ worship experience so that they can see again the wonder and grandeur of biblical characters from a child’s perspective, and get reacquainted with the virtues of some of the most well-known Bible stories and how they relate to life in the 21st century. This ingredient requires special care, as it tends to bubble over into other areas!
4. Place signage around the building, as needed, to clearly instruct and direct visitors to specific areas of the building. It’s important to use language that is common and doesn’t require visitors to be familiar with ecclesiastical language or insider vernacular.
5. As with any good recipe, everything must be in proportion and added at the proper time. It is important to fold in increasing numbers of dedicated and passionate volunteers in order to keep the church functioning. Facilities facilitate, but persons give personality. Each Sunday morning (and almost every day in between), gently fold in volunteers and mix thoroughly to ensure that all areas are adequately covered – hospitality, parking lot, greeters, children’s, worship and arts, technical, facilities, security, education, students and college, ushers, and pastoral care. This ingredient is the most important, as it adds the dominant flavor to the entire finished product.
6. Bathe each ingredient in prayer and dredge in grace and faith before mixing.

Don’t be surprised by the fragrant aroma that arises when all ingredients come together. Does not keep and must be made fresh daily. Does not freeze, and there are never leftovers. Recipe can be doubled or tripled only when last ingredient is doubled with each increase.

Whitney Kelley is director of account services at A. Larry Ross Communications, a Dallas-based media relations firm specializing in crossover communications between faith and culture. She and her family are also members of BTBF (www.btbf.org).