[TIP: Building Types Online is an excellent resource for identifying precedents.]
For any precedent study, historical and typological contexts matter! Monographs and book-length surveys are the most useful resources for establishing a building's meaning and significance. Look for these in the library catalog:
EXAMPLE: In the catalog, use AND to focus a building type search by historical period. For more focused search, use an additional search box.
IN FIRST SEARCH BOX: (religious OR church* OR sacred) AND architecture
AND
IN SECOND SEARCH BOX: modern OR contemporary OR 20th-century OR 21st-century
TIP: Search by subject headings, rather than keywords. Combine with AND/OR, as needed, for best coverage and focus:
Choose one: Church buildings OR Religious architecture -- either one of these is a subject heading applied by catalogers
Combine with: Architecture, Modern -- 20th century
OR Architecture, Modern -- 21st century
Sacred spaces : contemporary religious architecture by 
Church builders by 
Closer to God : religious architecture and sacred spaces by 
Constructing the ineffable: contemporary sacred architecture by 
Contemporary church architecture by 
How to read churches: a crash course in ecclesiastical architecture by 
Light color sound : sensory effects in contemporary architecture by Some facets to consider:
BUILDING NAME - a building may be known by several names (at once or over time), including variant names (Fallingwater or Falling Water), its street address (30 Rockefeller Plaza), or relationship to a client (Kaufmann Residence, Trump Tower, Wells Fargo Center). Collect them all!
BUILDING TYPE - often defined by function (which can change over time) but just as often defined by form or program
DATE - of design, start of construction, or construction completion; subsequent important dates: renovation, demolition
LOCATION/CONTEXT - urban, zero lot, suburban, rural,...its relationship to its built and landscape environs
DESIGNER - may be a single individual, or an architect, or multiple architects over time, or a design firm. Place of building within architect's life work.
PATRON/CLIENT - may be anonymous (vernacular), an individual, institution, government, or corporate entity
PERIOD/STYLE - periods are defined relationally as much as by time; styles can be revisited from one epoch to the next [e.g., classical, neoclassical, classical revival]
BUILDING TECHNOLOGY - construction method & materials, technological innovations or significance, structure
SIGNIFICANCE - historical, technological, aesthetic, cultural: first, last, best, tallest, largest, worst, "only example of ___," etc.
CHANGES OVER TIME - alterations, additions, renovations, restorations, catastrophic damage, demolition