A church for sale can be hard to come by, as the more than one hundred and fifty million unchurched people in the United States could tell you. An unchurched person is, simply put, a person who is a member of a congregation that does not have a church building to call a home. These unchurched people must often meet in public buildings while they are not in use, like school auditoriums and basements, for example, in order to hold their worship services. With one out of every five Americans considering themselves religious and attending church services on a regular basis and more than half attending church throughout the year, many congregations are desperately in need of a church building to call their own, a home. Many churches have steadily growing congregations as well, and those with more than 10,000 members are frequently making the leap to becoming a multi site organization. In situations like these, funds and locations for building new churches may be scarce and hard to come by. A church for sale might not be possible, but a church built from scratch may be.
While a church for sale may be hard to come by, if possible at all, modular construction offers a new path for unchurched congregations to take. Modular homes and other modular buildings have been increasing in popularity for a number of reasons. First, they do not take long to build. Your typical modular home can be fully built in a factory in as little as two weeks, compared to months that traditional construction often takes. Modular homes and buildings are often better for the environment as well, as they produce up to 30% less waste than traditional construction. This is because they are produced in a factory environment, with less opportunity to produce waste and more control over the waste that is produced. Modular buildings are also often half the price of traditional construction, though for both it is important to factor in the costs of electrical wiring and plumbing, which may not be included in the initial builder’s quote. A church for sale would often be more expensive than construction a church from scratch, at least in the case of modular buildings. Church construction would not even take particularly long with the purchase of a modular building, giving unchurched congregation members a permanent place to worship as quickly as possible.