ision and Visuals are two things that are important in any project and will help energise it and encourage supporters. Every project should have a clear Vision that comes from the leadership of the church. This vision needs to be repeated consistently throughout the life of a project. Ideally this Vision should be in writing and be capable of forming an integral and key part of any planning application that is made for the works. And the Vision will communicate to everyone what the church hopes to achieve in and through the building project so that everyone understands it and can get behind it. However, words can only take the vision part of the way. Most people are quite poor at envisioning drawings that are two dimensional so what is needed, to literally bring the Vision to life, are vivid visuals. These can be in the form of hand rendered three dimensional artist’s impressions, three dimensional images and in the case of much larger projects three-dimensional “fly through” graphics where viewers are literally taken inside the building to that they can view it almost from every angle!
As the project comes to life, further visual encouragement can come in the form of short videos, often taken from a mobile phone, together with on site photographs. These can be uploaded to a website regularly and supporters notified by email when the next instalment is available. Another fascinating visual can be achieved through the use of a time lapse video, taking a shot every so many hours or simply perhaps on a daily basis. This can help record the progress of the project and be an invaluable historic record of the creation of the building. Indeed it can go on being an asset for the church throughout its life as it looks back and remembers regularly God’s blessings to it through the building.
