Because we have so many of you who’ve finally acquired property for your ministry and are getting through those building committee meetings, we’d thought we’d throw in something extra special for you.

That’s right. 20% off our already crazy-low prices! When you purchase your church’s plans here on our site, simply enter the coupon code above to get your sweet deal. Oh, and by the way, please don’t wait around forever to get yours because the sale ends on May 12 at midnight EST. This sale price is good until then on all new purchases made here through DCP.net. Any questions or comments? Please call or email us!

Blessings on you, your families and your ministries!

We at Digital Church plans appreciate all of our customers. Our goal is to provide you with the best architectural designs at a rock-bottom price. We believe you should spend your money providing for your flock’s growth and doing God’s work; and we want to be part of it.

If you keep up with the news, then I’m sure you’ve heard of the storms and tornadoes that totally leveled some areas of our country. We send out deepest condolences to those families who lost everything – especially their family members. It must take great strength to pick up the broken pieces and start all over again. In times like these, communities must come together and offer love and support to one another to get through the circumstances in the best way possible. As a body of believers, we are automatically connected as a community and we feel it is our duty to help pitch in – in any way we can.

So we have decided to jump in and help in the time of need. We can’t peruse every incoming inquiry for location in a disaster area; so we’re extending lowered prices to everyone.

As of today thru June 30th of 2011, we are offering all of our packages at significantly lowered rates. These rates are for complete architectural packages in our library.

Packages under 5,000 S.F.

PDF Packages $ 500.00 ea.

DWG Packages (Unsealed) $ 1500.00 ea.

DWG Packages (Sealed) $ 2,600.00 ea.

Packages over 5,001 S.F.

PDF Packages $ 600.00 ea.

DWG Packages (Unsealed) $ 1800.00 ea.

DWG Packages (Sealed) $ 3,000.00 ea.

If you have any questions about how our plan packages work, please view our package information.

“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” - Romans 12:10

“But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. ” – Isaiah 25:4

“Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.” – Isaiah 58:7

“Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.” – Isaiah 58:10

You can have a suit custom-tailored to your exact specifications on London’s Savile Row, but you’ll pay several thousand dollars for the privilege. You can have a one-of-a-kind car built for you in Italy, and you’ll be charged several million.

Hardly anyone has his suits tailored these days, and even fewer have their cars custom designed and built. But when it comes to building design … Architecture is one of the few endeavors in which bespoke is still the rule.

But suppose you bought a set of plans off the rack, the way you buy your suits or your cars. You’d be paying a tenth of the custom price, because the labor that went into design has been amortized.

That’s what Digital Church Plans can do for you.

It probably doesn’t occur to you to wonder if the pocket flap of your new Jos. A. Banks suit exactly meets your prior predilections. Just so, perhaps conforming to a pre-existing church design needn’t vex too much –especially in view of the fact that you can have alterations at the same budget rate as the suit cost to begin with.

You’ll save literally tens of thousands of dollars.

Step by Step Instructions for Easy Online Purchasing:

Once you’ve picked out your church plan, go to the bottom of that plan’s page and see the area where it says “Choose Packages”.

Click the arrow for the drop-down menu, and you will be prompted to pick which type of package you want for your building plan.

Click to add the package you need to your cart, and you will see that it now shows up in your shopping basket!

When you are done browsing and are ready to pay, simply click the link to your online shopping basket. It will bring you to this page where you can see what all you’ve put in your cart. Click the green button to Checkout.

At this point, it will take you to a new page with a 4-step process where you will type in your name and contact info so that we will know where to send the files to, and so we’ll also know how to be in touch with you to help your ministry with this project. Please double check to make sure all info you enter is correct!

When you’ve finished entering your info, the last step will be the actual purchase. Currently we accept all payments safely and securely through PayPal. We have never had any trouble doing it this way and it simplifies the process for all involved. You can either pay directly with your PayPal account, or you can pay with any major credit card. If you don’t have a PayPal account, simply click that bottom blue link that says “Don’t Have a PayPal Account?” and it will prompt you to enter your information so that you can pay that way. [If you do choose to pay directly with your PayPal account, please note that they usually put a very temporary hold on your payment while they double check the authenticity of everything. See? They cover all the bases!]

Once you’ve paid, PayPal will send you a copy of the purchase invoice through email and one to us as well. Within 24-48 hours, your architectural drawing files will be sent to the email address you listed in your contact information. We will also be in touch with you via phone and/or email so that we can make sure you’ve gotten everything you’ve purchased and to answer any questions you might have. This is also the time where we will get with you or your contractor to discuss any revisions that need to be made. Our usual goal is to have those done and back to you within 2 weeks [barring any outside circumstances].

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us! We are happy to help!

This is the time of year where lots of folks are getting their gardens going great. People who have fruit trees and vines should have already pruned back their trees [here in zone 7] since one is supposed to take care of that before new growth comes forward. The whole purpose of pruning is to promote good new growth on sturdy branches – and to get rid of dead and diseased branches that will only inhibit further growth in the tree.  These weak branches not only zap nutrients from other parts of the tree, but also are not strong enough to even hold the fruit on if it were to start growing. There is nothing good that can come of these branches; they must be removed. And the ones that remain must be pruned back in preparation for new growth.

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.  You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.  Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.  But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!  When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

In John 15, Jesus likens Himself to a grapevine, and Father God as the Ultimate Gardener. If God is the gardener, and Jesus is the LIFE of the grapevine, then we as His children are the branches. We are known by the fruit that we bear, or the lack thereof.

What does that mean exactly? Well, when you look at a healthy fruit tree, can’t you tell what type of tree it is by the type of fruit that is growing on it? There is zero confusion to what type of tree is an orange tree when you can smell citrus in the air…and can see lots of juicy orange spheres hanging from all of the branches. If any doubt remains to the tree’s title, it is certainly removed once the fruit is plucked and tasted. Likewise, other people will be able to tell who we are and whom we belong to by the ‘fruit’ that is borne in our lives.  For a good clue on what Christ is looking for as far as bearing good fruit is concerned, look no further than Galatians chapter 5:

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

These are the results that anyone will be able to see as good, regular growth from your branches. These are the things that God is looking for in us. This is not something that one can force to happen in their lives as it is not in our natural being to bear this type of fruit. It can only come when we surrender our hearts and lives over to Jesus and allow Him to lead us and disciple us in the ways that we should go. Without Jesus’ life, we can do nothing.

How’s your branch looking these days? Is it withered and weakened? How long since you’ve produced fruit?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a branch that can’t even hold its own weight, nor do I want to prevent other [branches] from growing like they should because I am zapping up all the nutrients! And I certainly don’t want to be cut off by the Father!

Or are you strong and sturdy, bringing forth much nutritious fruit for the Kingdom? Even the good branches get pruned back to allow for better growth for the fruitful season ahead. Pruning is a painful but necessary process that makes us better than we were before, and prepares us for what’s ahead. It allows us to grow just as we should! This goodness doesn’t end there…go back to the original verses from this post: Jesus says that when we remain in Him, He will remain in us and we will be blessed! And it all brings great glory and joy to our Heavenly Father! And THAT is the whole reason we were created in the first place! Amen.

As we roll into this time of year where we discuss and reflect on Christ’s crucifixion, burial and glorious resurrection, let’s think on these things. He gave it all for us; we should be willing to do only just as much.

Happy Resurrection Day to you all!

The weather here yesterday was just inside 60 degrees with clear, sunny skies. There was a nippy breeze blowing, but while out and about, I noticed everyone and their mother outdoors…walking dogs…hiking…jogging…shopping…laughing…tap dancing…Okay, no – I didn’t see anyone tap dancing, but somebody should have been dancing with joy over the beautiful weather. This is a promise of something better just around the corner – SPRING! With the promise of lovelier weather just around the bend – comes the best time of year to help get your ministry started with the building project of the year.

Equip yourselves NOW with our church plans for the springtime of opportunity.

If you buy a set of our $895 PDFs NOW, you’ll have everything you need (including TIME) to:

shop around for contractors’ bids at the current fire-sale prices.

compare deals at your banks for one of the current low-interest loans –soon to be rare as unicorns.

There are thousands of dollars for you to save before prices go back up in the spring – by maybe as much as the full professional fees you’ll pay to get the jump on price shopping.

NOW while your contractor can still get lower bids from subcontractors and suppliers.

NOW while your banker can still offer you an affordable rate.

We are here to help! Please check our Packages page to find out what all is included in each of our sets. If you choose to go with the $895 set today, please note that that amount also goes towards your sealed architectural drawings that you will purchase from us in the future once you are closer to start the building process! We try to make this process as painless and as nifty for you as possible!

photo credit: not sure, but this is a lovely church in Argentina. find out more here.

I once had a church commission that should have been a piece of cake, but the congregation’s representatives couldn’t decide whether the carpet should be red or blue.

So they thought the height of good stewardship was to delay all design work on the church until this breathtaking issue had been resolved. The question languished for three years as the aesthetes fought themselves to an impasse, and the building project died.

What do you think Jesus thought?

Jesus didn’t get a church.

Church carpets should be grey.

Is some absurdly unimportant consideration keeping your church from honoring the Lord?

Reaching North America for Christ is too big a task for one church to handle. New Church Multiplication is one of the best ways for us to work the North American fields to the edges. And every church can get involved in multiplication of new Churches. How? The sky is the limit. There is no right or wrong way to support church planting. The question is, what are you willing to do? How big of a commitment are you willing to make?

Here are three levels of relationship that excludes no church from involvement. I offer a few suggestions that are not meant to be an exhaustive list under each level.

1. Friending / Encouraging. Church Planting is a difficult, lonely task, filled with uncertainty and vulnerability. You and your church can strengthen and encourage a church plant, as well as demonstrate a kingdom mindset, by reaching out a hand of friendship. This can be done with little or no expense to you and your church. Here are a few ideas:

• Put a church planter on your weekly prayer list. The real battle against the kingdom of darkness is free through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. As your church prays for the lost to be saved, take the new church and planter to the throne of God as they reach out to the unchurched in your community.
• Buy a church planter a cup of coffee once a quarter and ask him how it’s going and offer him your insights about the community. Ask him about his family. Demonstrate a desire to see the church succeed. If you don’t have a desire to see him succeed, then repent and get over the idea that your church can reach everybody in the community. Also, encourage the women’s ministry to remember the church planter’s spouse and support her when possible. Just simply treat them as you would want to be treated. Seems like I saw that principle written in red somewhere.
• Invite a church planter to share during your Wednesday night prayer meeting, to Sunday School classes, to promote special missions offerings, etc. Exposing your church to the story of God’s work in your community will benefit the church by opening their eyes to needs in their Jerusalem and Judea.

2. Partnering / Sponsoring. Maybe your church is ready to be engaged in off-campus multiplication a little more directly. Investing in a local church plant is one great way to help your church see their community as a mission field and multiply your impact on the Great Commission challenge. A few ideas for investing and sponsoring are:

• Become a financial co-sponsor. Put planting in the budget at whatever level you can. Most of the co-sponsors for the churches I’ve planted have been between $50 and $200 per month. Some have given a one-time gift. It takes money to minister in North America and a financial contribution encourages the planter and communicates commitment to the Great Commission.
• Adopt a church plant for your VBS offering. The kids will love the story about a church that meets in a Fire Station or Rodeo Arena or baptizes in a swimming pool. And it may plant seeds in their hearts that will lead them into a career on mission. One church in my region collected children’s ministry supplies for a church plant and five years later they were still using the construction paper and supplies received that week.
• Conduct a local or national mission trip to assist a church plant in outreach efforts. You can travel to a neighboring city or state or to the other side of town to assist with block parties, door to door work, servant evangelism, etc. Recently, I heard of a church that put together a team to take care of an area church plants Sunday morning setup for one month, just to give the planting team a break and to be a blessing to the new church.
• Give your cold prospect list to a church planting team. One of our sponsors gave our church plant a list of over 250 names that had only attended occasional events at the church or had not attended in a great while. We were able to contact those folks again and invite them to the new church. Later this month we will baptize a couple that we met because their names were on that list. You never know if a new church may be the tool for harvesting people you’ve cultivated and watered for years.
• Invite a church planter to attend conferences with you and your staff. Most church planters have followed a call and are choosing to live paycheck to paycheck. Most do not have the funds for conferences. Invite them to go with you. Offer to pay part of the way or challenge your church to pay their way. Pay or not, invite them along to enjoy and learn from you and your team.
• Sponsor a date night for a church planter and his spouse. Research is showing that church planting families are under great duress. There’s very little money and time for unwinding and recharging. In a difficult season of our first church plant a church in another state invited my wife and I to spend three days in their area, put us up in a nice hotel, and left a gift basket full of gift cards to area restaurants and attractions. Priceless, simple gift that served to rescue us from a season of discouragement.
• Offer your office equipment to a church plant. Allow a church planter to make copies, send faxes, and cut post cards. Minimal expense that will meet a huge need for a guy that offices out of a spare bedroom.
• Offer your facilities to a church plant. We’ve used facilities of other churches for core group meetings, leadership meetings, Thanksgiving Banquets, and housing for short-term mission teams. Extend the usefulness of your facility to expanding God’s kingdom through church multiplication by simply saying yes or being inviting to a church plant.

3. Parenting / Reproducing. Is God calling your church to reproduce and send out from your membership to plant a new church or a new campus? To multiply at this level you should go about it with the same veracity as you would with a new building project or capital campaign, utilizing all avenues of communication for a sustained period of time. During a building campaign, the last thing you want to hear from a member of the church is, “I’m not sure why we need a new building.” You work hard to get everyone on the same page through sermon series, letters, special web pages, banquets, personal testimonies, visual displays throughout the building, commitment Sunday’s, personal home visits, and more. If planting a new church in North America with momentum and a great potential for survivability is our goal, we should want every member to be on board and to do away with some anti-multiplication slogans – “I don’t see why we need a new church” or “Those people can just come to church here” or “Sending out people will hurt our church.” Here are a few ideas to prepare your church for off-campus multiplication:

• Answer the call from God to reproduce through off-campus multiplication. Ask, did we hear from God or from our local Associational or Denominational leader? This type of endeavor requires a vision from God that will be owned by your church and its leadership.
• Bring a Minister of Missions and Multiplication or Church Planter on staff. Part of this person’s job description should be to cultivate congregation and community for a new church. Devise a strategy that will allow the congregation to see him as an insider and whereby he can build trust with the people. Allow him to have regular pulpit opportunities, write newsletter articles, attend staff meetings, etc. Buy in and trust is so important if you want this to move quickly, so maybe this person is already on your staff or has a relationship with your church that makes them insiders.
• Prepare a Message series on Multiplication and Church Planting. The Book of Acts may be a good place to start. Bring the series to a close with an invitation to be part of a planting team or to help with the new church in some tangible way. One church devised dozens of ways that every member could be involved starting with things like prayer and making cookies for a block party, ending with the invitation to join the Core Group for two years.
• Along with a message series, guide small groups and/or Sunday School classes through basic missiology and importance of church planting. Take everyone in the church through a sustained study on multiplication and lead them to consider weekly their part in God’s Mission in general and specifically the need for a new church.
• Make a long-term commitment to the development of the new church. Parenting is the best description for this extensive role in expanding the kingdom. Parents nurture, train, discipline, encourage, and celebrate all the child does. Take that role with the church plant. If done in the right way and in God’s time, I promise they want remain with you for 18 years. With quality cultivation and core building and great parenting, it won’t be long before your church will be a GRANDPARENT! And then we are well on our way to a Multiplication movement.

In every community across our nation there are unreached population segments and people groups. The fastest growing religious affiliation is the “unaffiliated.” Church planting is one solution to stemming the tide of spiritual darkness in North America. There is no right or wrong way to support church planting. You may even find that it has a positive impact on your church. As a matter of fact, new research shows that churches that sponsor new churches tend to grow themselves. Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird in their book Viral Churches[1] point out a study of church-sponsoring churches showed that worship attendance increased 22 percent and giving increased 48% for the five years after sponsorship of a church plant.[2] And whether your church grows or not, until everyone in our communities has an opportunity to hear the Gospel we must push forward. Reproduction and multiplication of new churches is the fastest and healthiest way to bring God’s kingdom to all peoples. As each church does what she can do, we can together reach more people and make more disciples in fulfillment of God’s Great Commission.

[2] Farmer, Jeffrey C. “Church Planting Sponsorship” (Ph.D. Diss., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2007). His findings are based on survey responses from 309 Southern Baptist Churches that sponsored a new church in 1999; Farmer conducted his survey in 2006.

IT’S THE HOLIDAYS !

That means it’s time to hold everything! First it’s turkey day, then here comes jolly old Santa.

Forget the church building campaign. Let’s leave all the decisions till mid-January next year. Many of us have to go on vacation.

And then there’ll be time to delay building design and permitting until late summer –which is the earliest it can be accomplished —just before foundations get poured next winter.

Wise stewardship? Not.

A little folding of the hands.

Do you know how many times Christmas is mentioned in the Bible?

Why must Christ’s kingdom’s growth be put on hold for the holidays that presently bear his name?

If you have the credit and the will, you can easily arrange to hold next year’s Christmas service in your brand new church.

What are you waiting for?

–the architect.

The Holidays are quickly approaching, and many of us are already preparing for a time of faith, fellowship and fun family memories.  Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and Christmas is around the corner.  These are the best of times for families – and the worst of times for Church Building Projects.

Through the years, we have often noticed that many Churches tend to put their Building Projects on hold as various members of their Building Committees begin to take off for vacation, holiday shopping, and other activities.  Many of these projects end up being completely sidetracked until February the following year.

Now please don’t misunderstand us; we here at DigitalChurchPlans.net completely support any and all family activities during the Holiday Season.  As a matter of fact, you can feel free to mail any leftover Christmas Cookies to our offices, where they will be promptly devoured.  No – we LOVE the Holidays.  It is, however, important to point out that the Holidays can also – with a little bit of strategic planning – be a very productive time for your Church Building Campaign.  Here’s how:

1.) Schedule a Few Special Building Committee Meetings

It’s true that many projects tend to get put on the back burner during the Holiday Season, but it does not have to be true for yours.  Take advantage of this time to strategically arrange a few special Building Committee meetings.  Bring egg nog!  Serve Christmas cookies!  Get down to business, and make the final, necessary decisions that will bring your project into focus.  This will allow you to get your project settled, and get your drawings in for permitting during the Holiday Season.

2.) If Everybody Else is on Holiday, Your Wait at the Permit Office Will Be Shorter.

While it’s true that no one can guarantee this for every city, it is very likely that there will be fewer projects in for permitting at your local Building Department during the Holiday Season.  That means potentially shorter lines, less time waiting for review, and a jump start on the permitting process altogether.  With a little bit of holiday cheer, you may even be able to present your Church with a wonderful Christmas present this year – a Building Permit!

3.) Congregations Feel Inspired and Hopeful During the Holidays

Although it may be difficult for you to obtain support throughout the year for your Church Building Project, people tend to feel a little more giving during the Holiday Season.  This could be a time to inspire the congregation; present them with a report on the progress that you’ve made, the decisions that have been nailed down, and the forward momentum that your Building Committee has gained through all that extra effort.  A Church Building Project is always a team effort that requires the support of the entire congregation, and the Holiday Season is a wonderful time for drawing everyone together and focusing on a common goal – seeing your project through to completion.

These scenarios may not play out exactly the same way for every Church Building Project (trust me – they WON’T).  However, please let these examples encourage and inspire you to take this time of the year and make headway with your project.  As always, we want to encourage you to spend time in prayer, seeking God’s will in these matters as well.  After all – He’s the One you’re building for.