Who is on the church’s “side”?

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.

READ FULL POST

Home Depot profit rises with growth in basic-fix purchases

I am no stock guru…in fact I only own a couple publicly traded stocks…but this headline grabbed my attention.

Earlier this week, the second-quarter earnings reports came out for most publicly traded companies.  I was riding in my car listening to the financial news (I know…BORING) when I head that Home Depot and Wal-Mart had posted higher than expected earnings.  So…it got me thinking as to why, in this economy (especially with construction being down) would the world’s largest home improvement retailer see such an increase.  So I have doing some research.

READ FULL POST

Church, the way it used to be…REALLY???

This past week I was driving on I-85 between Charlotte and Atlanta and saw a billboard for a church that said:

ABC* Church and School…the way it used to be (* I will not reveal the name of the church…but if you Google “Church, the way it used to be” you may be shocked at how  many churches use this slogan)

I saw this and just thought…HUH?  Really?  Are you serious?????

I know what they are trying to say…but REALLY?  Do you really want things the way they used to be?  Do you really want church and school to be the way it “used to be”….really?  Let’s think about how church and school used to be:

READ FULL POST

Interested in saving “operational” dollars? Consider your site improvements

HMMM….save money….what a unique concept.

Over this past year we have looked at many items that can save your church/organization money with “building” related adjustments (i.e. change the type of light bulbs, add a building automation system or network thermostat product, etc).  We have also explored the opportunity to save money by looking at your staffing and outsourcing systems.  These are all valid and need to be considered.

But today, I want to shift our thinking to our site improvements….you know…our yards, grassed areas, landscaping, irrigation systems, etc.  These areas are too often over looked when considering the overall cost of operation of our facilities and we just continue to water the yards…cut the grass…put down new mulch/needles…and then do it all over again…and again…and again.

READ FULL POST

NACBA Conference Recap – CHURCH FACILITY MANAGEMENT: THE FACTS

On June 23rd, Ron Chandler and I had the privelege to present a workshop at the NACBA National Convention entitled:

Church Facility Management: THE FACTS

Since that time we have had a number of requests for the audio (or video) version of the workshop.  So…we have uploaded the 90 minutes of audio (sorry…no video) recording on our website which is available HERE (it is about 90 minutes long….so grab a snack and some iced tea).  I realize this is not the same as sitting in the standing room only workshop, but it will give you a sense of the topics and the discussion points.

READ FULL POST

Decaying old churches face ‘trouble in paradise’

Decaying old churches face ‘trouble in paradise’ – USATODAY.com.

That is the headline of a recent USA Today article.  Take a minute and read it…I will wait…

OK…with that as the back drop, I want to hammer on some of the points I have been trying to make for a long time…and had the chance to share this week at the NACBA Convention in Orlando.

1. ALL buildings deteriorate…PERIOD.

2. The rate of deterioration is usually 1-4%…IF you perform some level of systematic preventive maintenance

3. The deterioration rate can double if preventive maintenance is not performed

READ FULL POST

Don’t Touch The Glory

About 15+ months ago I started a diligent routine of prayer journalling.  This routione has 2 aspects:

1. In the morning I pray/journal the things I need to “turn over” to God

2. At night, I pray/journal the things I am thankful for

As you can imagine, it is a lot easier to list things that I am thankful for than admitting/confessing the things that I need to release and turn over.  Frankly, it can be down right tough to confess the things that I need to turn over….but I am getting more comfortable with it and have been so blessed by the exercise.

READ FULL POST

Keys to Success in Uncertain Times

I was blessed out of my socks to be invited to attend the International Shelby Conference (hosted by Shelby Systems….thanks Ron Chandler for the invite) in June.  What blew me away was the genuine spiritual tenor and flavor of the event.  The day I attended…as did each day…started off with praise and worship and a teaching time.

READ FULL POST

You Can’t Fire Volunteers When the Construction Project Stalls

Welcome to Part 3 of our series of “Simply Strategic Stuff”.  As I have mentioned , these are taken, with permission, from the book Simply Strategic Stuff by Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens.  I strongly recommend that you pick up the book as there are 99 great insights…and we will only be addressing a handful as part of this series.

READ FULL POST

Construction(and maintenance) Costs: The Trend is UP

I have been doing a lot of research on the current trend of construction costs.  I make it a point to have a better than average understanding of the trends that impact construction and building costs as it impacts all of our clients and all churches considering any type of construction project, renovation, remodeling or even general maintenance.  There is no escaping it when prices increase. It impacts our budgets…plain and simple. So, it does not do us any good to bury our head in the sand and pretend that we may not spend more for our construction projects and maintenance.

READ FULL POST