Our congregation recently moved out of the building we had occupied for almost 20 years.
The state bought the structure as part of a city expansion project and will demolish it in the next few months.

The final service in the building was sentimental, but most of us were ready to leave the aging structure, which required so much maintenance it was draining our finances.

Our new worship and ministry facility is scheduled for completion in 2011.

For now, we now rent space for our Sunday and Wednesday services at an events center called Noah's. The irony is not missed. As with the biblical prophet, the building serves as an ark in our time of transition.

Our new situation also reminds me of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. God instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle, a tent where he promised to "dwell among his people" (Exodus 25:8). Each time the Israelites moved, they packed up the Tabernacle and its portable furnishings. Wherever the people pitched camp, they set up the mobile sanctuary and the priests resumed their work.

Every Sunday, we do our best to transform Noah's banquet hall into a sanctuary: Musicians set up their instruments and sound equipment; the technology group lugs in computers and plugs into the house projectors; deacons put up portable crosses and move the offering and communion tables into place; our hospitality team adds some personal touches. At day's end, we pack everything up and place it back in storage for a week.

It is cumbersome. Each week I hear someone say, "I can't wait to walk into our new building." It is, however, a reminder that a church is not a building. It is the people.

Once the children of Israel settled in the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was abandoned for a permanent structure—a temple. In the New Testament, church services were held in homes. As Christianity matured, buildings were constructed. They initially were designed to be functional. The emphasis gradually moved from function to form, as more elaborate edifices became the norm.

A church does not require a building, but eventually stability is desired and owning becomes more cost effective than renting. While the emphasis should not be form, the church's building does need to be functional. It must be efficient and effective with sufficient office space and sanctuary seating, modern technology and, yes, even a somewhat attractive appearance. But the place is only a tool to accomplish the church's mission. A church makes the most impact when it ventures outside its building.

Once we move into our new facility, I will probably have a new appreciation for permanent structures. But the building will not make us any more of a church. In our temporary situation, we remain a church. Each week, once our services begin, Noah's becomes a church—no matter what it was the night before.

Corey J. Hodges is pastor of New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. This article first appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on March 4, 2010. Used with permission.