{"id":712945,"date":"2020-06-10T23:32:46","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T03:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=712945"},"modified":"2020-06-11T07:16:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T11:16:03","slug":"does-the-condition-of-your-church-facility-matter-to-guests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/does-the-condition-of-your-church-facility-matter-to-guests\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the Condition of Your Church Facility Matter to Guests?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever walked into a highly-recommended restaurant, full of anticipation and excitement, to then be turned off\u00a0by the lack of care of the facility? I have been disappointed more times than I can list when I was in a mid- to upper-priced establishment and visited their restroom to be totally repulsed by the lack of care and cleanliness, or to look up at their ceilings to see stained ceiling tiles, or, even worse, dirty HVAC grills and cobwebs. (That is a habit for me, so if you invite me to your facility, know I am looking at your ceilings. <\/span>You have been warned.<\/b>)\u00a0 What does that say about you and your facility? What does it say about what you value? Obviously, you do not value the health and well-being of your guests and occupants if you are OK with allowing dirt and dust to blow down on their heads or have them breathe dirty air.<\/span><\/p>\n

What story is that communicating?<\/span><\/p>\n

To me it indicates that either you do not care about your facilities, are not intentional about their care, or are in poor financial condition and cannot maintain them.\u00a0Now, that is just me, but could that message also be the one conveyed to your <\/span>guests<\/b><\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Having a facility in poor condition is not a great witness or example<\/span> in my opinion. Allow me to explain why:<\/span><\/p>\n

In his book <\/span>\u201cFirst Impressions: Creating WOW Experiences,\u201d<\/span><\/a> Mark Waltz, former pastor of connections at Granger Community Church in Granger, IN, addresses what it may be like to be a guest in our churches and how the first impression may not always convey the story we desire. In addition, the first impression may be the only chance we have to impact their lives. He writes;<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen your guests are distracted from the real purpose of their visit to your church, you\u2019ll have a difficult time re-engaging them. In order for people to see Jesus, potential distractions must be identified and eliminated.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Have you ever considered that the condition of your facilities could affect your ability to engage and minister to people?<\/span>\u00a0In <\/span>previous blogs<\/span><\/a> I have focused on the physical attributes related to the built environment. We tend to focus on the \u201cobvious\u201d components of a first impression such as signage, guest services, banners, and swag bags. But what about the condition?<\/span><\/p>\n

Over my 35-year career of serving local churches addressing facilities matters, I have witnessed firsthand the use, abuse, and misuse of ministry facilities. <\/span>I have seen churches spend millions of dollars on new facilities and then neglect to change the HVAC filters, repair leaks, change light bulbs, caulk annually as required, and so on.<\/span> In my opinion, this is similar to collecting the offering during your worship services and taking 10 to 20 percent of the monies out of the offering plate or basket and setting it on fire. We would all agree that kind of action would be ridiculous and obscene.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would never do that… that is God\u2019s money.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I ask, who provided the funds to build your facilities? We all know the answer: God provided the resources. It was and is <\/span>His<\/b> money. And they are <\/span>His<\/b> buildings. Yet, we too often act irresponsibly with these assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

I find that many church members take better care of their homes, boats, cars, motorcycles, and even their pets than they do their ministry facilities.<\/span> Is this acceptable to you? It is not to me, and I suggest that the church (big \u201cC\u201d) wake up, take notice, and do something about it. I believe that God will hold each of us responsible and accountable for how we steward <\/span>every <\/b>resource entrusted\u00a0to us<\/span>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Do you know the current condition of your facility? Or maybe you are trying to create an action plan for intentional facility stewardship? <\/span>Contact us today<\/span><\/a> and ask about our Facility Condition Assessment. We would love to help you become a faithful steward with the facility you have been entrusted with!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over my 35-year career of serving local churches addressing facilities matters, I have witnessed firsthand the use, abuse, and misuse of ministry facilities. In my opinion, this is similar to collecting the offering during your worship services and taking 10 to 20 percent of the monies out of the offering plate or basket and setting it on fire.","protected":false},"author":8099,"featured_media":712946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-712945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facilities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoes the Condition of Your Church Facility Matter to Guests? | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over my 35-year career of serving local churches addressing facilities matters, I have witnessed firsthand the use, abuse, and misuse of ministry facilities. 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