A Church, an Architect, and a Vision Shared
By David Keesee, President at 3Dream Studio.
Originally published on www.religiousproductnews.com.
In 1997, Pastor Hank Kunneman and his wife Brenda started Lord of Hosts Church with a handful of people and 3,800 square feet of leased space inside a retail building in Omaha, Nebraska.
Nearly three decades later, that same campus is home to a 24,000-square-foot, purpose-built worship center called The Tabernacle. The steel structure seats 1,670 and is outfitted with full-height video walls, state-of-the-art audio, DMX-controlled lighting, and a cross that rises 68 feet above the ground.
That kind of growth doesn’t happen overnight. It unfolded over years of strategic planning and a partnership between church leadership, an architecture firm that specializes in houses of worship, and a visualization studio that helped everyone see and agree on what they were building together. Their story reflects how church construction projects are increasingly being approached: less handoff, more collaboration, from the earliest conversations through the final walkthrough.
Outgrowing the Building
As the church grew, so did its footprint. When the entire property came up for sale, the church purchased it and began working with Kansas City-based architecture firm Mantel Teter to develop a long-range master plan. An initial phase transformed the interior, converting an old ballroom into a café, bookstore, and community gathering space and adding a second video venue. The exterior façade was completely renovated with Western Red Cedar, synthetic stucco, and fiber cement board-and-batten, giving the old building a modern, welcoming identity.
But the congregation’s growth eventually outpaced what the renovated structure could deliver. The auditorium was filling faster each week, and the overflow chapel was straining to keep pace. The church needed a worship environment with the ceiling height, acoustic performance, lighting infrastructure, and broadcast capability that a repurposed retail building simply could not provide.
“We are in an incredible season of growth,” said Hank Kunneman, senior pastor of Lord of Hosts Church. “People are coming from across the city, across the state, and from around the country. We knew it was time to build a place that could match what God was doing. Not just more seats, but a facility built for worship, for His presence, and for the technology to reach people around the world.”
Photo Credit: Emmalee Rathsam
The Architectural Solution
Brian Rathsam, vice president and project architect at Mantel Teter, had been working with the church through the earlier renovation phases and understood both the campus and its constraints well. The question wasn’t whether to expand. It was how.
“The existing structure had real limitations,” said Rathsam. “To achieve the ceiling heights, acoustic performance, and technical infrastructure this congregation needed, we determined early that a new freestanding structure was the right path. But it couldn’t feel like a separate building. It needed to connect to the existing campus, both physically and visually, so the entire property reads as one cohesive facility.”
The solution was a 24,000-square-foot steel structure positioned at the end of the existing building, connected but engineered as a standalone sanctuary. The design incorporated a Tectum-insulated roof for optimal sound quality, a steel “sky-deck” allowing audio-visual professionals to access equipment suspended 40 feet above the floor, and an exterior material palette that tied the new structure visually to the renovated façade. Omaha-based Lund-Ross Constructors, who had also served as general contractor on the earlier phases, was brought on to build it.
Designing in Three Dimensions
There was a time when renderings were the last thing produced in a church building project. A polished image created after the design was finalized, used for a campaign brochure or a lobby display. The design process lived in floor plans, elevations, and technical drawings that most church leaders had to take largely on faith.
The Lord of Hosts project reflects a different approach, one that is becoming increasingly common in church construction. Working alongside Mantel Teter’s architectural drawings and programming documents, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based 3Dream Studios began building photo-realistic 3D models of the proposed worship center in real time as the design took shape. These were not after-the-fact renderings. They were working tools built in parallel with the architectural process, giving church leadership a visual language to engage with design decisions that would otherwise be difficult to grasp from drawings alone.
Should the new structure connect at the roofline or sit adjacent with a covered walkway? What do sight lines look like from the back row? How will the exterior materials read on a building with a dramatically different scale? These are construction questions, and the 3D model became the tool that allowed a non-technical church board to engage with them meaningfully. Through online screen-share sessions, the architect and visualization team could review and refine details together with church leadership in real time.
“This kind of collaborative 3D work elevates the entire design process,” said Rathsam. “It bridges the gap between what we draw and what our clients can actually picture. For a project of this significance, that bridge is critical. It allows the church to see options, react to them, and make confident decisions before construction begins, which saves time, money, and costly changes in the field.”
Photo Credit: Emmalee Rathsam
From Design Tool to Fundraising Engine
Because the 3D model already existed as part of the design workflow, it became a natural asset for the church’s capital campaign. A Turn-Key Vision Video was produced that wove together introductions from the Kunnemans, on-site interviews with a cross-section of the congregation, and an animated 3D walkthrough of the proposed sanctuary. All of it was built from the same model that had been informing design decisions for months. An interactive online virtual tour was also made available, allowing members and the church’s significant online audience to explore the proposed space from any device.
“This project was more than just four walls and a roof,” said Kunneman. “It was a challenge of architectural engineering, and it was a step of faith for our people. When they could walk through the building before it existed and see the scale, feel the atmosphere, and understand the purpose, it wasn’t just a building plan anymore. It was theirs. And they gave to make it happen.”
The model also continued to serve as a reference throughout construction. When questions arose about interior finishes, lighting placement, or material details on the job site, the photo-realistic model provided a shared frame of reference that flat drawings alone could not. The building arrived at completion looking remarkably close to what the congregation first saw in 3D, because the model wasn’t a wish. It was a working document that evolved with the project.
What a Shared Vision Looks Like
The Lord of Hosts project illustrates what becomes possible when the key players in a church construction project are aligned from the start. Rather than working in sequence, where the church defines a need, the architect designs in isolation, and a visualization comes at the end for a brochure, this team worked in parallel. The church brought the ministry vision. The architect brought the technical expertise. And the 3D visualization gave everyone a shared picture to react to, refine, and rally behind.
The Tabernacle at Lord of Hosts Church opened its doors in late 2024. Today, the campus stands as a testament to what happens when a growing church, an experienced architect, and a commitment to shared vision work in lockstep. Each brought something the others couldn’t. And together, they built something none of them could have built alone.
David Keesee is the founder and president of 3Dream Studios and has been helping churches successfully launch capital campaigns since 1995, www.3dreamstudios.com.
Architectural photography by Emmalee Rathsam.
Photo Credit: Emmalee Rathsam