SUBSCRIBE TODAY: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play
Churches in need of revitalization often need facility help, too. Today we discuss ways to improve your facility without too much expense.
Today’s Listener Question from Morris:
Our facility is our biggest weakness as a church. It’s not used during the week, and we don’t have much money to improve it. How do we maximize its use and are there people who can help us improve it without it costing an arm and a leg?
Some highlights from today’s episode:
- It’s often easier for churches to share facilities with religious non-profits due to sharing a common mission.
- When you make your church facility available for public use, make sure you do it with a ministry-centric purpose.
- Consider what immediate improvements could be made to your facility and see if your church could be the subject of another church’s missions project.
- The easiest way to know what improvements your facility needs is to conduct a church facility audit.
The six ideas that we discuss are:
- Share space with a non-profit
- Create a partnership with an ethnic church
- Find out what you can do immediately to a facility
- Seek an renovation ministry to come to your church
- Use the facility for community events
- Ask the city if they could use the church facilities
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
- Church Facility Audit
- Cool Solutions
- Revitalize Network
- ChurchReplanters.com
- Replanter Assessment
- Find more resources at the Revitalize & Replant page at ThomRainer.com
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.
Submit Your Question:
Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the podcast? Visit the podcast page to submit your question. If we use it on the show, you’ll get a copy of Scrappy Church and Reclaiming Glory.
I agree that it is good if you can find another non-profit that agrees with your church’s mission.
But you must have solid and agreed upon guidelines for the group to follow and have someone constantly checking to see if the group is holding to the guidelines. Please do not ask a church staff member to be responsible for this.
We have had a group in our facility that began as only a short term agreement but has far outstretched the terms and the ability of our facility to accommodate the group unfortunately. The group is doing a good job and is well respected in the community and is trying to build a permanent facility but funds for them are lacking to be able to do this. It is not feasible to ask the group to find another existing facility due to how this would be viewed by those who are associated with the group in and outside the group and how hard it would be for them to relocate twice.
For the last 12+ years we have shared our church building with a “Special” church for developmentally and physically disabled citizens. They meet on Sunday afternoons and have their own pastor and Bible teachers. We have also, in the past hosted and sponsored a Spanish language congregation. The local “Fellowship of Christian Anglers” use our building and the Girl Scouts use it too.
Another thing to be concerned about is that you may open the door (especially in liberal states like California) to being “required” to make your facility available to ANY group, even those which are opposed to what the church believes.
For example, if you decide your historic auditorium would make a great wedding chapel, you may have to allow same-sex marriages to be hosted in it. Or if you allow a pregnancy resource center, you may have to allow a non-profit that refers for abortions.
And those groups are well-funded, more than you would have to fight them (yes there are religious liberty groups but they only have so many resources and can’t take every case).
Second Law of Thermodynamics (opposite of evolution) = Increase in Maintenance account of group’s budget likely must be sustained each year into the future (practicing scheduled maintenance can help; deferred maintenance is more expensive).
Small Bible study group ministry led to sustain its growth over consecutive years typically ends group’s money problems. (I know: sounds impossible.)
Share the campus (via well-crafted formal agreements) with like-hearted religious nonprofits–and plan to give the buildings to one of them when relocating to a more ideal (can mean smaller) location.
Owning property = controlling the message coming from it. Renting property = remaining nimble and efficient. A difficult choice.