How many of you have been through a construction project in the past 10 years? How did that go? Did you ever feel alone? Ever wonder if anyone was on your side? Ever feel like everyone that you hired (or that was hired for you) had their own agenda?

I hear your pain…and I have seen the damage in the wake of that pain.

Now, I have a lot of friends and colleagues in the church “development” space that are already turning red in the face and ready to jump down my throat…just hold on…don’t get too worked up…yet.  There will be plenty of time for that later and maybe much later.

Before I get started let me do the “disclaimer” bit…not all projects go bad (in fact most end up pretty well).  Not all contractors are out to deceive you or make their “real” profit margins through change orders…not all design professionals want to design monuments to themselves without listening to the real needs, wants and budget of the church…not all Audio/Visual/Lighting contractors/designers think that your system should rival Carnegie Hall…not all fund raisers claim to help you raise 6 times annual income. OK…enough of my political correctness…you get the point.

But, I assure you that there are way too many instances where a trusting soul in the church or church leadership goes down an ill-advised path that results in exactly these scenarios.  So…who is there to protect the church?  Who is on the church’s “side”?

I have been doing a fairly extensive study on project delivery methods for design and construction.  What I have found extremely odd, is that each of the popular methodologies boast that their system is the “best” because they are on the clients side and they are there to protect the client. While I believe that many of them believe this to be true, I am not sure it is humanly possible.

I have heard general contractors say for years that they want the best for the church and that if it is not the right space that they would tell the church not to build.  I have seen this on occasion, but if those same general contractors do not eventually build something…then they are out of business.  Their paradigm is to build buildings…plain and simple.

I know architects that really believe that they are the last line of defense against the big bad contractor and that without them all heck will break out and the client will be abused.  In some cases, I think they may have a point.  But if they were truly more interested in the church than their own agendas, then why do they not take more time to understand what a church can REALLY afford…for the TOTAL project budget?  Why do so many churches that “bid” come in over budget? Again…this is not an issue with all firms…but it is true with more than it should be.

While I am asking questions…shouldn’t every person involved with the project be on the church’s side? Just saying…

OK…let me tell you what I think the real issues are (and it is not necessarily for all of the cases I have stated previously):

1. Churches need a translator: Most of the churches that I have dealt with need a translator that can speak“construction-ese”. Someone who can read a set of blueprints and give them a real life example of what the lines on the paper mean. Someone that can explain a change order and if it is valid or not.  A person that can explain that you need an appraisal before you can close a loan and that the process could take months and not just days.   I have seen the light bulb go on for so many committees and leaders when someone sits down and tells them, in layman terms, what a construction term, word, phrase, acronym, drawing or the like really means. (By the way…PLEASE stop using acronyms that are germane to your field of endeavor…you make church leaders feel stupid…not a good move and it leads to confusion and missed expectations)

2. Churches need a relationship: Do you really want to spend hundred of thousand or even millions of dollars with a person or firm that you have very little relationship with? Is that even wise?  If you are a business owner, would you enter into a 2-3 year(or longer) joint venture with someone you did not have a good working relationship with?

3. Churches need transparency: I believe that in today’s technologically based society, with its ease of accessing data, transparency is the new norm. Churches can research and find out pretty quickly what a building should cost, or how much a new video projector can be bought for on the internet.  With all of this data at our fingertips (and those of our clients) why would any firm think it is wise to hide numbers or not be transparent? If your “service” or product is really that much better than another firm/company, then by all means charge accordingly and you should be compensated for the differentiating features…but don’t hide it.  Are you embarrassed of the fees?

I believe that the above 3 items are great steps to better facilitated design and construction projects for churches.  I also believe that the firms that are willing to embrace being on the church’s “side” will flourish as the economy recovers…and yes…the people on the church’s side can be contractors, architects, engineers, construction managers, owner’s reps and the like.  What we call ourselves in the market place is less important than how we serve the church.

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