Long before a shovel hits dirt, there are three mistakes that church leaders must avoid in a building project. And all three occur with the formation of the committee—the group of men and women who will lead the church through what often becomes a challenging, two- to three-year endeavor.

By recognizing these missteps upfront, and taking action to avoid—or at least minimize—any or all of them, a church has a much greater chance of seeing its building project through to a successful completion, with a healthier, happier staff and congregation in tow.

Mistake No. 1: Using the church pastor as the building committee's chairperson.

Too many churches add this responsibility to their pastors' already burgeoning list of tasks and duties. The burnout rate for ministry leaders tends to run high already. Imagine adding the role of leading a committee that is about to spend a lot of money, make a lot of decisions affecting every single member and visitor of the church, and interact frequently with numerous consultants, city officials, and other key decision-makers.

When church leaders envision their next building project, many are selecting interior and exterior styles that may deter the very people they're trying to reach—the unchurched—from visiting.

According to the "Church Facilities Expansion Study", a joint research project between the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN) and Christianity Today International, church leaders consistently chose building designs that are the opposite of what the unchurched said they preferred in a prior study, "Sacred Space", conducted by CKN and Lifeway Research in 2008.

In the "Church Facilities Expansion Study," most churches that are planning to build within the next 18 months say they will go with a more modern look for their exterior, sanctuary, and foyer designs. However, "Sacred Space" respondents, all of whom are unchurched and do not currently attend a church, said they prefer churches with a much more traditional, cathedral-like design.

Dave Travis, managing director of Leadership Network, based on recent research and his own observations offers his state of the church in America as seen through the "keyhole" of large churches.

Things That Are Changing—

Multi-site churches. According to research for our book Multi-Site Roadtrip, an estimated 2,000 churches in America use the multi-site model. It's assumed that if you're a large church, you're thinking multi-site.

Social media. According to the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds use social networking at least once a week. Senior pastors under 40 who are leading large churches all use social media. Travis: "This is a radical shift in how we understand leadership. Fifteen years ago, pastors were wondering how they could be less accessible. Today, younger pastors want more access."

Ask a person where they most experience God's presence, and typically you'll get one of two answers. Some will say they feel closest to God when they are in nature. Others experience him best in a church or cathedral—a space that has been specifically constructed to elevate one's thoughts toward God.

The reality is that throughout history, from the Garden of Eden to the City of Heaven, God has used real places—three-dimensional environments, both natural and man-made—to help people find him, experience his presence, and recognize their place in his story.

No one has redefined the way technology is used like Steve Jobs. He put the word "personal" in the personal computer. His subsequent breakthroughs with music players and phones have shown his uncanny ability to understand the market and create products that, in some cases, people didn't even know they needed.

So, if Steve Jobs were to design your next church building, I think he would offer three guiding principles.

1: Make It User-Centric
When Jobs approached telephone service carriers for the yet-unseen iPhone, it was a world the carriers ruled. Phones were just a way to get people locked into two years of service. Jobs successfully negotiated a new set of rules with AT&T. He also developed the most advanced (and beautiful) cell phone yet—all because of a relentless focus on the customer.

Translation: Church buildings should be designed based on who will use the building and how they will use it—including ways they haven't even considered yet. How do people interact with each other—virtually and in real life? Where do people find their sacred space? Where do the people in our ministry focus like to hang out? Answers to these questions have huge implications for building design.