Local Building Audits

Every church building was designed for a purpose – to be a centre for the Church’s mission and worship and to demonstrate God’s love for the world.  Many have become buildings of historic and architectural importance which are valued by worshippers and non-worshippers alike.  The purpose of building audits is to help decide the place of buildings in carrying out the Church’s mission, while being objective about both the buildings themselves and the activities they cater for.

Among the main reasons for carrying out a local buildings audit are:

• to identify areas of opportunity for mission and outreach
• to consider whether the location of existing church buildings is suitable for delivering future mission initiatives
• to consider the wider potential of church buildings to serve the community around them
• to help to make the best use of buildings as assets
• to ensure the consultation process is as wide-ranging as possible in order to secure a measure of agreement to proposals for changing or developing the way in which church buildings are used
• to agree a process for implementing recommendations about the future provision and use of church buildings and other parochial property.

Please see below for links to guidance notes and a template for gathering information for those involved in the process of carrying out building audits.

A Guidance Note for Dioceses - download here

A Guidance Note for Benefices, Parishes and Deaneries - download here

A template for gathering information - download here

If you have a general enquiry or comments about these web pages please contact Fiona McKenzie.