Ep. 257: Small Church, Big Building & The Dilemma of Church Spaces

Ep. 257: Small Church, Big Building & The Dilemma of Church Spaces

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When a missionary or pastor plants a church, they’re not just gathering people—they’re making decisions that quietly shape the work for years to come. And one of the decisions that carries great weight is that of “space.” Where do we meet? When do we start on Sundays? How do we stay nimble and mission-focused without being homeless—or overbuilt? Today’s conversation sits right in that tension: the blessings a building can provide, and the burdens it can introduce, especially when the work is still small and the people are still growing. 

My guest today on the Postscript is Blade Sbisa, a church planting pastor in St. Louis who’s just getting the work on the ground with a small team. Blade recently stepped into a rare opportunity to purchase a church building at a phenomenal price—complete with a parsonage—before the plant is really ready to use it. So what do you do when the building is bigger than the congregation? How does it effect the culture and set expectations? Blade is thinking through it all in real time, and his process will help a lot of planters—and sending churches—think more clearly about buildings, stewardship, and the work of making disciples.

And don't forget to catch this week's episode of SoundMind!

Why is it so hard to follow through on the things we genuinely care about? And how do you build a life that doesn’t just look faithful in short bursts, but actually lasts? In the final episode of the What’s the Deal with Follow-Through series, Jonathan Kindler pulls the threads together and reframes formation around sustainability, dependence, and return. Grounded in passages like John 15 and Galatians 3, this episode explores why intensity fades, why structure so often turns into pressure, and how spiritual growth quietly derails when it becomes performance instead of relationship.