The WHY and HOW of church maintanence

“The INITIAL DESIGN and CONSTRUCTION of a facility comprises about 15% of the total cost of a building over its 40 year lifespan. The remaining 85% is made up of the building’s OPERATIONS and MAINTENANCE COSTS.” David S. Haviland. THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 

THE WHY OF CHURCH MAINTANENCE

It’s easy to become complacent about the state of your church, as it often serves as your office and your home away from home. Even with the best cleaning and building maintenance staff, clean-up and up-keep of the building and the grounds can prove to be challenging. After a few months, you may not even notice the paint scuffs, drywall chips or weeds in the mulch beds out front, but your guests will.
That being said, it’s important to look at your church not only from your congregation’s point of view, but from that of your potential newcomers as well. 

Your members should look at your church as a peaceful place to escape the stress and clutter that fill their lives every day. The physical state of your church should reflect this sentiment. For newcomers, first impressions are everything. We often think about greeters and the “shake the hands of those around you” time as how we make a good impression on guests, but what would a potential new member think if they visited your church for the first time right now? Would you be proud of what they saw on their way in?

Think of the real estate market for a second. The house that has the curb appeal sells quicker and for a higher price than the house that has overgrown shrubs and trees, dilapidated siding and weeds in the mulch beds. Keeping your church tidy and clean can lead to higher attendance, increase retention rates and a greater sense of pride within your congregation. Members are also more likely to invite friends when they are proud of the church they attend.[2]

Lets keep it brief and look over some points for why you need to be proactive with facility management:

• God entrusted these facilities to you. They are His and He expects us to be diligent.
• All of God’s physical creation will deteriorate and will need care and/or replacement. This is inevitable.  There is no escaping this reality.
• Facility related expenditures are generally the second largest line item in a church budget, only after staffing.
• Concern for the health, safety and well-being of the staff, congregation and guests.
• Maintaining facilities is a perpetual activity…not a one-and-done.
• Operational costs (utilities, maintenance, janitorial) make up about 80% of the Total Cost of Ownership of your church facility over the life of your facility.
• Your facility tells a story…what story will it communicate to your guests? One of care and attention or one of a lack of attention? Mark Waltz of Grainger Community Church says – “When your guests are distracted from the real purpose of their visit to your church, you’ll have a difficult time re-engaging them. In order for people to see Jesus, potential distractions must be identified and eliminated.” The condition of your facility can be such a distraction.
• Facilities were intended to Facilitate. What would happen if your facility was not fully operational?  Would it impact your ministries? How many Sunday’s could your church function without A/C in the worship center, in the middle of August?
• Self-Respect! If your home was in disarray or falling apart or had stained carpet or peeling paint, would you be proud to invite people to come over? If you are like me (and maybe I am weird), those things bother me.  I do not feel good about myself when my house is not what it could be or should be.  Not perfect…just intentionally cared for.[1]

THE HOW OF CHURCH MAINTANENCE

If you have been tasked with the care, longevity, maintenance, life cycle and/or management of your church facilities, you need to take it serious. Take a minute to read Numbers 3: 14-38. Pay specific attention to the fact that it was the Levites…the priests…that were assigned the care of the temple.  It was not people at the bottom of the food chain.  It was not the unqualified or the lowest paid.  It was the Priests…those set apart to do God’s service.   God ordained his chosen priests to manage the “facilities.” According to this scripture, there was facility management and facility managers (Read about Eleazar in Numbers 3:32) to be in charge of these tasks before there were youth pastors, children’s pastors, IT directors, Media directors and so on. [1]

Get a central calender. This constant use of facilities requires coordination, planning and scheduling to ensure all responsibilities are taken care of. Churches are very active places so having a central calendar, that lists all events, is one of the first steps in effective facilities management.  It is difficult to schedule a cleaning crew to clean up after an event if the event is not listed on the main calendar.

Tips for Managing Church Facilities:

• Volunteer Work Days/Working Bee
• Landscape Maintenance
• Cleaning Schedule
• Maintenance Schedule

1. Volunteer Work Days/Working Bee

Engage the entire congregation via SMS and emails to inform and remind your members of the event. Encourage them to add it to their calendar. Share it on social media as well, and have small group leaders communicate the message.

Focus primarily on the problem areas. Maximize your efforts and accomplish a comprehensive clean up.

• The main entrance is the very first thing people see when they come to your church. Make sure it’s clean. Remove weeds, mow the grass and make sure signs are clean and working.
• Sidewalks and parking lots should be clean as well. Make sure you’re sweeping and removing trash. Fill potholes and cracks if needed. People aren’t going to come into your church if they can’t find a decent place to park.
• Inside, are there holes or scuffs on the walls that need to be repaired or repainted? Are the floors dirty? Does tile need to be resealed?
• If you have a child care facilities, how does it look? If your visitors have kids they’ll definitely want to make sure that there is a clean space for their kids to play and learn.
• Your kitchen could probably use a deep clean and some organizing. Consider creating or updating an inventory list so you know what you have and what you’re missing.
• Any other resources or facilities your church is fortunate enough to have can probably use at least a dusting. Make sure anything you would highlight on a tour of your facilities is it’s best.

These are all easy fixes, and with a collective effort of many people, won’t take long to accomplish and will help keep maintenance and cleaning costs down for your church.

Consider hosting these clean-up events at least once a year, maybe quarterly. Ideally you could host them before Christmas and Easter to make your church extra welcoming for new guests. In the summer a nice incentive to get people to come is to have a barbecue or potluck after the cleaning so you can share a meal after a couple of hours of tough work. Whenever you host them, clean up days are a great way to bring your church together. Encourage people to introduce themselves to someone new and give them icebreakers they can do to get to know each other while they work.

A clean and tidy environment coupled with an engaging community of believers makes for an enthusiastic and productive attitude among the church and its members. Use this to your advantage. The pride your members have in your church will show. With a sense of renewed pride in your church body, your members will be more open and willing to invite potential newcomers and members into the congregation.[2]

2. Landscape Maintenance

Volunteers may be available to help with a lot of the projects that need to be done on the outside of a building. Most churches have some sort of outdoor landscaping so having a plan to groom the exterior by cutting grass, trimming bushes and cleaning out flower beds is an important part of keeping a campus sculpted and appealing. This should be done fortnightly and working around existing calender events. If at all possible avoid mowing laws during a prayer meeting.

3. Cleaning Schedule

Members like to attend a church that is neat, clean and orderly. Create a schedule that has cleaning times that coincide with the church calendar.

For example, it is important to have a cleaning crew clean up and prepare the building for Sunday morning services after a Saturday afternoon wedding.

An updated church calendar makes it possible to schedule and coordinate this function.

Include in this calendar a weekly, monthly and annual schedule for detail cleaning like dusting blinds, cleaning air ducts, cleaning light fixtures, wiping down cabinets, etc.[3]

4. Maintenance Schedule

All buildings need to be maintained on a regular basis and a schedule helps to ensure routine maintenance is done consistently.

Whether it is changing the air filters in the HVAC units, painting high traffic areas or sealing the parking lot, a schedule helps to ensure things get done on a regular basis.

To do this, take a few people and walk the church campus and make a list of all maintenance projects. Put the list in an excel spreadsheet and sort by frequency of maintenance.

For example, sealing the parking lot may need to be done annually, painting high traffic areas quarterly and changing air filters monthly – regardless, map out the frequency and then schedule dates for the maintenance[3]





[1] Cool, Tim. The why behind the What of church facility management Accessed 18 March 2017. http://www.espace.cool/the-why-behind-the-what-church-facility-management/
[2] Gilman, John Curb Appeal:Welcoming Visitors into a Clean Church. Accessed 18 March 2017. http://www.acstechnologies.com/blog/engagement/curb-appeal-welcoming-visitors-clean-church
[3] Smart Church Management. 6 Tips for Managing Church Facilities Accessed 18 March 2017. https://smartchurchmanagement.com/church-facilities-management/