Originally Published as: Post-Frame Churches
How to Add this Market to Your Customer List
As post-frame grows in the residential market in the form of barndominiums, the same thing is happening in the church market. This pivot in building methods on the part of church congregations is largely for the same reasons that homeowners often choose post-frame; it is more affordable, low maintenance, and it offers the great open space desired in a church. Further, with wide wall cavities for insulation, these buildings can be very energy efficient saving the congregation money over the long term.
How can you put this knowledge to work for you? Tom Wondra of Walter Buildings has some tips to help builders sell post-frame to church boards. Builders also have some lovely church builds to share.
The Canaan Bridge Church
When the congregation of Canaan Bridge Church—known locally as The Bridge Church—outgrew its original country sanctuary, they faced a familiar dilemma: how to fund, design, and build a worship space large enough for a growing ministry without compromising the stewardship values that guide every church dollar. Their answer arrived through a partnership with Walters Buildings led by Regional Vice President Johnie Baker: a 120′ × 60′ post-frame addition seamlessly joined to a refreshed original structure. The result is a light-filled worship center with offices, nursery, generous lobby, men’s and women’s restrooms, and a welcoming gabled entrance with canopy—all clad in Walters’ burgundy and gray steel panels.
Details
- Builder: Walters Buildings
- Doors: Plyco Series 20
- Fasteners: Maze Nails and ST Fastening
- Building Manufacturer: Walters Buildings
Presenting to the Church Board
By Tom Wondra, Walters Buildings
1. Speak their language.
Church boards don’t think in square-foot costs alone; they think in decades of ministry impact. Open every conversation by framing post-frame construction as a stewardship tool: lower up-front cost, shorter build time, and reduced long-term maintenance free up resources for outreach.
2. Highlight the familiar.
In a farm-centric territory, most board members already trust post-frame for equipment sheds and ag shops. Invite these groups to imagine that same durability – upgraded in finish and fit – for fellowship halls or sanctuaries.
3. Demonstrate versatility.
Clear-span trusses mean today’s sanctuary can become tomorrow’s family-life center or gym without knocking out load-bearing walls. We bring renderings that show Sunday-school rooms flexing into youth spaces, and lobbies converting to community event venues.
4. Underscore craftsmanship.
A church is a landmark, not a barn. We showcase studies and thoughtful architectural touches, such as an inviting gabled entrance with a covered canopy, clean modern lines, and interior lighting that transforms the clear-span sanctuary – proving that post-frame can look every bit as “church-worthy” as conventional brick-and-mortar.
Sometimes, even when you use these techniques in your pitch, it can be a tough sell. That is until the numbers and the visuals are lined up.
A steel-frame or conventional stick-build of comparable size often runs 20-30% higher and takes months longer. Present side-by-side budgets and schedules, showing immediate value.
5. Present worship-ready aesthetics.
As one board member said, “Just don’t let it look like a hog building.”
High-definition renderings, finished project tours, and interior photos (especially something dramatic like the Bridge Church’s stage flanked by dual projection screens and a 20-foot cross) dispel that worry in seconds.
Local involvement can also help. If one of your crew is an active congregation member, and the Board knows he/she will be pouring personal labor into the project it builds trust faster than any brochure ever could.
