CHURCH FACILITY STEWARDSHIP
The 4 pillars to good facility stewardship
By Donovan Loomis
Between Sunday worship , youth activities , and all the groups that meet throughout the week , your church is a hub of activity . Your congregation relies on the facilities to not only be a place of worship , but also a launching pad for ministry . Church leaders are expected to be intentional in how they manage the church ’ s resources , as you care for your church with the same attentiveness that you would your own home .
Aside from staff , the buildings are your most expensive asset , and we should care for them accordingly . Often , we have to do more with less , making it mission-critical to effectively prioritize the things that can make the most impact for the long-term , utilize your resources wisely , and plan for the future . From our work with church facility managers , we ’ ve found that the four pillars of the best facility stewardship are : 1 ) Preventive maintenance 2 ) Work order management 3 ) Asset management & capital planning 4 ) Safety
Planning for the future starts with knowing what resources you currently have ( and how you can make the most of them ).
3 ) Asset Management & Capital Planning
Once you know the status of your assets and what resources you have , you can truly begin to assess how to use them and plan for the future . Being able to see detailed information on each asset in your facility — particularly if it ’ s expensive or large — will help you know whether it ’ s better to repair or begin to budget for a replacement . Joining asset management with capital planning will also enable you to forecast budgets years in advance based on what might fail in the future , ensuring that you ’ re using your church ’ s resources where it will make the most impact .
4 ) Safety
Our facilities should be a safe and welcoming place , free of distractions . Safety is a natural aspect of stewardship , and it can ’ t be emphasized enough . From ensuring that your facilities are up to date with codes and regulations to natural disasters or even acts of violence , there ’ s no such thing as being “ too ” prepared .
With a safety management solution , you can ensure that everyone in your congregation is prepared . Having plans and protocols available via a mobile app for staff and volunteers will reinforce safety training , equip everyone to be prepared in an emergency , and ensure that everyone has the most up-to-date information .
A preventive maintenance program can extend the life of your assets by 35 %
1 ) Preventive Maintenance One of the best ways to fix a problem is to prevent it before it even starts . Preventive maintenance ( PM ) is key to being a good steward of your facility , as it can help you plan better for the future . Instead of reactive maintenance , a PM program can help you ensure that everything is running as it should be with fewer surprises . In addition , this program will allow you to schedule routine maintenance that can extend the life of your assets by 35 %, while reducing energy consumption by 10 % to 15 %.
2 ) Work Order Management
At times , all the things on your to-do list can feel overwhelming as you ’ re pulled in multiple directions . A work order management system can help prioritize and streamline incoming requests and keep things from falling through the cracks . Plus , with a work order solution in place , you ’ ll be able to start seeing trends that might arise in your facilities . For example : If you see that a particular air handling unit is continually requiring maintenance , you can begin to justify a replacement over repairs … which brings us to our third pillar .
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Doing more
We use software for so many other facets of church operations , why not use software to properly plan and care for our most expensive assets ? Focusing our efforts on the four pillars that make the most impact is one of the best ways to do more with less , and having a computerized maintenance management system ( CMMS ) is a powerful tool that can help you ensure that you ’ re staying on track with your church ’ s goals and keeping track of everything .
To be a good steward of your church , you don ’ t have to invest exorbitant amounts of money in order to achieve results . By being resourceful and focusing on the areas that will make the biggest impact , you will have more resources to devote to the mission of the church : equipping the ministry .
Donovan Loomis has more than three years of experience in church facility management and serves as Dude Solutions ’ Industry Specialist focusing on religious organizations . He graduated with a BS degree in 2012 from East Carolina University .
CHURCH FACILITY STEWARDSHIP • CHURCH EXECUTIVE 3