Church Design & Construction

Increasing Church Volunteers & Giving

2009-12-15T11:45:00.002-05:00

Two things most churches don't seem to have enough of are workers and money. What you may not realize is that these two issues are spiritually related and you can implement a simple strategy to bolster both of these important resources.

General stewardship principals teach us to give of our time, treasures, and talents. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:21 that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Treasure certainly implies money or wealth, but actually was probably intended to denote a broader spectrum of those things we feel are important to us. Not only do your members' money follow what they feel in their heart is important, but so do their time and talents. Giving of time, treasure, and talents is a heart, or spiritual issue. What is interesting about Jesus' quote is that he clearly states that in whatever place you store or invest your treasures, that is where your spiritual center (heart) is.

This passage raises a question much like the chicken and egg question; which comes first, your heart or your investment. In reality, we see examples of money following heart (that is why missionaries visit churches), and heart following money (your devotion to a particular stock symbol once you have invested in a company). What is important is to remember that they are linked, so the best strategy to increase both workers (investment of time an talents) and financial support is to implement a strategy that works both ends towards the middle.

If you can convince people of the need and importance of serving, and engage them in doing so, you should also expect an increase in giving from those people. A recent study, the national study on volunteering just released by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund ("Gift Fund") and VolunteerMatch, showed Americans who volunteer their time and skills to nonprofit organizations donate an average of 10 times more money to charity than people who don’t volunteer. If you engage their heart in serving, their giving goes up. Conversely if you clearly teach your people about biblical giving, thereby increasing their financial support, they will be more likely to serve, since they now have a greater heart interest in the ministry. Pastor testimonials show that a clear, compelling, and unapologetic teaching of biblical giving principals on an annual basis increase giving 10-30% or more each year.

Addressing both the financial need and the need for workers is done in similar fashion. As churches learn from annual stewardship programs or capital stewardship campaigns, to get people committed to giving you need to do four things. First, you need to provide the biblical basis for what you are asking; you need to lay the spiritual groundwork. Secondly, you need to clearly communicate the need that exists. The third step is to clearly and unapologetically make the call to action - tell them what you need them to do and challenge them to a specific action (exhortation). Finally, the last step and the one where many churches miss the boat, you need to hold them accountable to respond. While you may not feel as comfortable with this step as the others, you have to take seriously what James said, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

All too often pastors across America will just toss the concept of giving out there and hope the congregation responds. People need to be exhorted in the truest sense of the word. Strong's Concordance has, as the definition for exhort (parakalountev), "to call to one's side, summon, admonish, beg, encourage, and instruct." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines exhort as "to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly." From the pulpit we need to lead, instruct, and exhort in every sense of the word. In general, most people only rise to the lowest level of expectation. In large part if you toss important ideas out there hoping they will act, the people will probably think about it, but not act. Often times they only think about it until the end of service.

If there is one thing we learn from church fundraising, you have to have personal dialog with people to get them to invest, whether it is their time or their money. You have not because you ask not. But only asking from the pulpit makes it a general issue and everyone assumes someone else will step up to the challenge, and when no one does, people generally don't feel bad because the are just doing (or not doing) what everyone else is. Exhorting means you not only need to make it clear over several weeks from the pulpit, but you also need to get face to face with people and make the personal appeal by exhorting them in the truest sense of the word. At the end of the day, it will be a blessing to the church and to the person giving of their time, talent, and treasure. So get out there and preach it, teach it, beg if you need to, and incite your people to a Godly response.

Amen to the Manhattan Declaration

2009-11-20T21:22:00.002-05:00

I know this is off topic, but how can I not give voice to support this declaration. If you don't know about the Manhattan Declaration, I urge you to read the press kit and visit their web site. On their site you too can be a signatory to this incredible statement of Christian faith and principle.

I love the closing paragraph, found just above the signatures of the original signers, that provides such a clear an succinct summary and clear statement. You too can sign, as I did.

Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's.

All I can say is AMEN!

Needs & Feasibility Presentation - Recorded Webinar Now Online

2009-11-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

As a volunteer church building consultant for the Congregational Services Group of the NC Baptist Convention, I recently delivered a live webinar on the topic of conduction a church needs and feasibility studies as one of the first steps in a church building program. You may listen to, and view, this presentation online as it describes what a needs and feasibility study is, the process, the goals, and the benefit to the church. Follow this link to view the Church Needs and Feasibility Study Presentation.

How Much Unity Is Enough?

2009-11-17T22:22:00.000-05:00

As you move forward with a church building program (or for that matter, any large endeavor by your church), one of the challenges you will face is the decision about how much unity is enough; whether to try to get every last person in the church to be in agreement about what to do and when.

Allow me to set your expectations; it will probably never happen. In my years of consulting, I have never witnessed 100% unity on the decision to build, or as a result of deciding to build, unity in the decision to raise money for building. Chances are, it probably will not happen in your church either.

If everyone in your church is a sold-out, evangelical, deeply committed, mature Christian ready to do what it takes regardless of the personal sacrifice, you have a chance at 100% unity. It is important to realize the chances of getting 100% buy-in is inversely proportionate to the number of people in the decision process, so if you have more than 3 people in your church, the odds start going down quickly.

Almost every church has at least a few professional naysayers, people who don't want change for the sake of not having to endure change, people that don't understand the Kingdom need, or even agents of the enemy who try to derail good works. So therefore:

100% unity is a goal to hope for, but not one to necessarily hold out for.

How much unity then, is enough? At what point are you delaying a project that is the express wish of the vast majority, in order to attempt to bring the last few sheep into the fold? Honestly, only you can answer this question and should be approached with much prayer. I don't think a church should even remotely consider moving forward with less than 85% concurrence, and I recommend support of 90% or more. That said, however, there is a point of diminishing return where trying to convince that small handful of people will cost you far more than you will gain.

If you think me harsh, please don’t. No one will ever have a greater love for man than Jesus, yet on occasion He was clear in drawing the line and telling people they needed to be on one side or the other. (Lk 18:22, Lk 9:60, Jn 6:60-67). In no way do I mean this to be mean spirited, but there may well come a time when you need to say, "This is as close as we are likely to get, lets move on and let the chips fall where they may." It is important to realize some people will sit on the fence until presented with two clear choices and the exhortation to pick one.

As opposed to those who are merely uncertain or concerned, I have little tolerance for divisive people. I wrote in my book, Preparing to Build, "Some people advance the cause of peace by their absence." It’s often the case of goats and sheep. The difference between a goat and a sheep is the sheep will do what the shepherd tells them to do, and a goat goes "but, but, but..."

Sadly a few unhappy goats often make a whole lot more noise than a church full of contented sheep. I have long suspected, and many pastors have backed me up on this, that for the most part, the malcontents, trouble makers, high maintenance members, sticks in the mud, or whatever you call them, usually give very little of their time or money to ministry work.

I believe the most difficult person to know how to handle is that person, whether they be staff, a deacon, or just a long-term member, who has the best of intentions, but ends up being a sympathetic sounding board for unhappy people and unwittingly undermining both the authority of the leadership of the church and the will of the majority of the church members.

Often times this person considers themselves a genuine peacemaker, but by being overly sympathetic, often gives an appearance of legitimacy and support to contrary opinions. This person, once hearing out the objections, should encourage the dissenting party to place others and their opinions before their own and submit to the will of the leadership and church body.

Those in your church who are part of a very small minority that may not support certain decisions must be willing to say that if they, once their concerns have been heard, need to submit to the will of the church leadership and body. If they cannot get to this place, then it may be best to consider finding another church.

Losing people for any reason is a hard thing for almost any pastor, and hopefully it will not happen because of the building program. However, any time the church does something big, it provides the opportunity for people to come down on opposite sides of the solution. A mature Christian, once having been heard out, will hopefully submit themselves (if not joyfully, then at least quietly) to the overwhelming opinion and desires of the church body. Losing people can be hard, but sometimes the only thing harder is to try to hold onto people who are not in step with the church vision and mission.

Unity in the body is important to God, but He does not expect the church to indefinitely postpone doing His will in order to try to bring along a few people just aren't with the program.

Timing a Church Capital Campaign

2009-09-27T21:36:00.007-04:00

Many churches in the past year have postponed building programs due to economic uncertainty. Even though building may be 1, 2 or even 3 years away, the wise church will be preparing now for a future building program. One of the keys to becoming financially prepared to build is to execute a capital campaign well in advance of building, or even before talking to lenders about borrowing (for more on this subject see my post, The Year of the Church Capital Campaign).

As we enter into the fall, now is the time we are helping equip churches to execute a capital campaign in the 1st quarter of 2010. Now is the time to begin to implement a campaign timeline and strategy, recruit capital campaign committee members, and integrate your campaign into the church's calendar. There are a number of things the church can do to prepare the way; to prepare the fields and sow some seed that will increase the spiritual and financial effectiveness of your capital campaign next spring.

By the time of this post, most of those churches planning a Christmas play or pageant have already begun to organize and mobilize for this event. If you give 3 months to preparing for the Christmas play (a one-day event), how much more time should you give to preparing for a capital campaign which is much more complex and lasts for 6-7 weeks?

All too often churches underestimate the time and effort that goes into preparing for an effective capital campaign. There are several topics for messages, if not entire sermon series, that should proceed the "actual campaign". There are scheduling issues that need addressed, recruiting, organization, and equipping that needs to be done before you even begin!

Churches that wait until after the first of the year to begin to move on a spring capital campaign will find themselves pressed for time and having deal with more stress and complications than necessary. The church that does not plan ahead will make this wonderful event a burden, not a joy to the staff and committee members. It will, in all likelihood, end up negatively impacting the spiritual effectiveness and financial benefit of the campaign. The earlier your church begins to prepare for its capital campaign, the more effective the campaign will be, and the least stressful for those involved.

Pastors Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

2009-08-13T16:49:00.010-04:00

Last year, you may recall that the bottom fell out of the economy.

According to a survey conducted by Brian Kluth of over 1,000 churches, 29% of the responding churches reported giving was down in 2008, and 53% of churches reported giving was behind budget for the first quarter of 2009. The amazing finding was in the face of these statistics, only 14% of churches made cuts to their 2009 budget. At face value, this would seem to indicate that at at least 15% of churches are going to be faced with severe budget shortfalls this year.

However, if the 53% of churches who were behind budget early in the year don't architect a financial turn around, many of them could be seriously behind budget for the year. This could put a number of churches in the position of needing to take some drastic and painful steps later this year or early 2009. One thing is certain, no pastor or board wants to fire staff or reduce important programs and ministries. One might consider this situation to be "the rock."

Churches that are having a hard time meeting budget, are struggling to pay mortgages, or can't afford to hire needed staff have only three options: reduce expenses, increase giving, or a combination of both. Two of the three solutions depend, in whole or in part, upon increasing giving to the church general fund. This brings us to the "hard place"; the Lilly Endowment Studies report that 85% of pastors feel uncomfortable and/or unequipped to preach on giving.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" The same question might be asked about giving; how can anyone expect to increase giving in the church if 7 out of 8 pastor's are unwilling or unequipped to preach on biblical stewardship?

The Kings James Bible has 64 verses that mention hell, and 334 that mention love, however there are reportedly over 2,000 verses (depending on the source quoted) that deal with money and possession. Pastor Randy Alcorn's book, The Treasure Principle, puts the number of these verses at 2,350. Now there are those who will dispute that number, and it is certainly open to debate, but even if the number of verses was overstated by 100%, there would still be 3x more verses about money and possessions than love and hell combined.

Being unwilling to preach and teach on money is not a new problem. Malachi begins in chapter 1 by rebuking the priests for failing to properly oversee worship (particularly the offerings), and failing to properly instruct the nation in God's Law. He goes on to call the people to repentance, not the least of which was the famous "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."

So what are pastors to do when they feel caught between a rock and a hard place?

The answer is to clearly and unashamedly preach and teach on biblical stewardship and not be afraid to challenge the people to respond. In 1 Chronicles 29:5, King David, after proclaiming his financial support for the building of the temple then clearly challenges the people to give by boldly asking, "Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?" David clearly threw the gauntlet down and the people responded.

Pastors and church leaders who wish to become equipped to lead their church in biblical stewardship, should consider the Dynamic Giving Toolkit. Pastor testimonials report increases in giving of 10-30% the first year and double digit increases yearly thereafter. The web site asks a very good question, "What would your church do with 10-30% more money?"

The core of the program is the book, Pastor Driven Stewardship by Dr. Rod Rogers. Used by over 1,000 churches in 13 countries, these materials have transformed the members and the giving of churches around the world. If your church needs to retire debt, hire staff, expand ministry, or you just want to avoid painful budget cuts, we think these stewardship materials will teach, equip and challenge you to lead your church in biblical stewardship.

Post a comment and let us know what your church could do with a 30% increase in giving...

A Wise Quote, Still True Over 100 Years Later

2009-08-11T14:07:00.003-04:00

I love this quote. It is appropriate in so many circumstances, not the least of which is in church design and construction.

“There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.” - John Ruskin

For more sage words, see these John Ruskin Quotes.

The Most Asked Question in Church Construction

2009-08-04T19:58:00.011-04:00

"How much will it cost to build the church?" is by far the most asked question we receive.

This is a very important question, and one worthy of an accurate response.  Everyone wants to know how much it costs per square foot to build a church.  The REAL answer is this: All I or anyone else, including your local builder, can do is guess (we professionals call this "estimating") - until there is a real set of church plans. Anything else is just a guess, and not one you can hold someone to, at that.

Can an experienced church builder look at a concept drawing of a church plan and get pretty close on cost?


Yes they can.  I have been blessed to be be uncannily close on several projects - simple because, like a builder, this is something at which I have experience.  However, when you talk to someone who does not specialize in church construction, or worse, someone who gives you a lowball estimate just to try to get a business relationship going, the church can end up in trouble.  There is no way most churches know if their builder is really honest and capable until it is too late. To make it worse, most architects don't really know what a church will really cost to build - ask just about any builder and they will probably tell you the same thing.

Most churches push their budget to the max in order to build all they can afford.  A church can easily into the design process and spend several ten's of thousands of dollars on plans based on a bad guess or deceptive estimate. When the church gets the real construction bids and find out they can't afford the building, they then have to pay even more to have the plans redrawn.  This is not only a waste of money, but of time and momentum.

There are two ways to solve this problem:

The first is to NOT do the tradional Design-Bid-Build approach where you don't find out how much the building will cost until after it is designed.  A better approach is to put together a team consisting of the architect, engineer, and builder to work the process together, getting pricing estimates all during the design process so that by the time the building is designed, it is also priced.  This is commonly referred to as the team build approach. Team build differs from design/build by virtue of the fact that both the architect and the builder work for the church, an important distinction.

The second way is through the use of a new church plan offering that allows churches to buy detailed plan sets from previous building programs for only $895.  Starting with any one of the 200 or so church plans on ChurchPlanSource.com, the church can find a plan that is very close to what they want to build in size and general seating capacity.  The church can then buy detailed blueprints in PDF format and submit them to a builder for pricing.

Once the church determines it can afford the building, the changes to the plan are made to make it the church's own.  The key to making this work is to find a building that is as close as possible to what the church needs.  Non-structural changes to room layouts and reconfiguring space will not greatly affect the price of the building, so the church can have construction drawings completed with the confidence they know the final price.  Even if the building needs to be resized soemwhat, the cost per square foot for the church will be approximately the same.  If it cost $100/sqft to build a 10,000sqft building, it will probably be the same price per square foot to build a 9,000 or 12,000sf building based on the same plan. Personally, I find these sample plan sets to be very helpful.  All too often churches don't believe me when I tell them how much a building project will take.  They are always sure they can get it done much cheaper.  For churches with unrealistic expectations, this is a great way to confirm if they can actually build it for what they believe.  If they can, Praise God, if not, they have lost very little.  (I may not have been able to keep them from shooting themselves in the foot, but I did at least switch them to a lower caliber that made a smaller hole. LOL)

If your church is in a hurry for whatever reason, it can have church building plans in hand in days instead of weeks or months. The full sample plan set in PDF format can be used to:

Get an accurate cost, or better yet, a firm bid, from a builder.

Be submitted as part of your inital loan application package.

Used for a preliminary plan review meeting with your local building department.

Uses as a planning document to communicate desired changes, and much more...

Go to ChurchPlanSource.com for more information and pricing.

Time is Running Out for a Fall Church Capital Campaign

2009-06-12T13:31:00.003-04:00

A church capital campaign is not unlike the Christmas play - you begin to prepare months in advance to have the best and least stressful outcome.

The right time to be in front of your congregation for a fall capital campaign is after school is back in session and before the holidays. This provides a smaller window of opportunity for that 6-7 week time of preaching, teaching, and support building than a spring campaign.

If you plan to be raise money this fall, you should begin to organize and prepare your capital campaign team starting before the end of June. This will enable your church to achieve the best results with the lowest stress. Every week that your church delays from this point forward increases the effort and stress of a capital campaign.

For more information on capital campaign timelines, download the PowerPoint presentation on www.OurCapitalCampaign.com.

Church Financing - Still a Tough Market

2009-06-02T15:28:00.006-04:00

Churches continue to have difficulty getting the financing they need for buildling or relocation. We have seen any number of churches that should be able to get financed turned down by lender after lender. Many churches that are getting turned down for financing today could have been financed a year ago with exactly the same financial statements. The biggest impediment to financing is inadequate cash flow - not enough money left after expenses to service a mortgage. Unlike previous years, lenders are not willing to wager that the church will reduce discretionary expenses to service a mortgage or increase income because of growth. Today, lenders want to see 6-12 monts of financial history showing a cash surplus sufficient to cover a mortgage.

Many churches are qualifying for loans, they're just qualifying for significantly less than last year, and less than they need for the church plans they have. For churches that cannot qualify for as as large of a loan as they need in order to build, they need to raise the difference in cash.

There are three things that a church can do to improve cash flow. The church needs to apply a sharp knife and cut expenses, it needs to faithfully preach and teach about giving and stewardship, and it needs to run a capital campaign (which will also help with coming up with the cash difference between what they need and what they can borrow).

Cutting expenses is difficult, but a necessity for many who want to build. Trimming expenses and increasing income and cash on hand through a capital campaign is the financial answer to many of today's church financing problems.

How To: Estimate a Church Building Program Budget

2009-05-09T14:48:00.010-04:00

"What man would build a tower without first counting the cost?? - Jesus

Millions of dollars every year are wasted on church building plans that churches cannot afford to build. Many churches let the church building project define the budget, instead of letting the budget drive the design of the church. This simple transposition of steps in the process takes a toll on churches in terms of cost, time, effort, enthusiasm, and support for the project.

Design is part of the building process. Counting the cost does not mean sending your plans to the builder for an estimate. Counting the cost means understanding what you can afford before you begin. There are a great number of church building plans available, and any number of church architects that will create more, but knowing what you can afford is a necessary step before you concern yourself with design.

In my book, Preparing to Build, I discuss this in great length, but below is a basic formula that any church can use to get an first approximation of their budget for a building program.

There are 4 basic variables in determining your budget. Those 4 variables are added together to determine the preliminary budget. Often, early in the process, the church will have to use estimates for these values and refine them later in the process.

The four variables:

Cash on hand: This is the amount of money available which can be applied to the building program. This would include whatever amount of money in checking, savings, money market or CD's you want to use.
Money you can borrow: The maximum that any church can borrow in a loan or bond program is 3-4 times its current income; and is often less. Borrowing ability is based primarily on cash flow, not the value of assets.
Money you can raise from the sale of assets: This may be your current location (if you are moving), a parsonage, or real estate. If you owe any money on the asset you are selling, it will be the net cash to the church after paying off the debt.
Money you can raise before construction: This is typically money raised in a church capital campaign. In a 3 year capital campaign, churches typically raise between one and three times the current amount of their annual tithes and offerings, with around two times income being the average.

Our formula then becomes:

Cash on hand ___________

Money that can be borrowed _____________

Money from sale of assets _____________

Cash that can be raised before construction _______________

Your budget _____________________

If your church needs assistance in answering the budget questions and/or defining what it truly needs to build, I would suggest downloading this pdf file about a Needs and Feasibiltiy Study.

If your church needs a capital campaign, we can help. Our church capital campaign consultants can provide everything from a full-blown capital campaign to a do-it-yourself capital stewardship campaign that you run in-house.

Raising Money From Outside the Church

2009-05-09T14:23:00.002-04:00

A reader asked about how a church capital campaign can reach outside the church to get money from the community. This is a good question, and I will try to give a clear answer.

The quick answer is that a church capital campaign is not the best tool for obtaining financial support from the community. The reason being that the campaign is strongly based on a Kingdom need and God's provision to meet that need through His people; an approach that will find little traction with most folks outside your church and faith.

Getting support from the community takes a somewhat different approach, and is much more like a grant writing effort than a capital campaign. The similarity to a campaign is you will be creating a case for support. This case for support, however, will focus on the ministry of the church and its measurable impact in the community. It will also be much more extensive, objectively detailing what you do and giving a qualitative analysis of how you have impacted the lives of those you have ministered to, and the impact the community

Essentially, you need to tell the story of what you do and how those programs and ministries are improving or serving the community as a whole. You need to make the case and explain what effect the donation you are seeking will make in the community.

It will also be helpful to research your community, find which businesses give to local charity and religious organizations. Also, you can research if there are any local donors or foundations that support programs in the community. These two sources would be the best place to begin looking for financial support for your church, outside it's four walls.

Announcing The Complete Church Capital Campaign in a Box

2009-04-27T20:21:00.006-04:00

AMI today announces the Abundant Giving Capital Campaign, a complete Church Capital Campaign in Box.

Abundant Giving distinguishes itself from other church capital campaigns by its flexible and cost effective delivery method. Whether you are a small church looking for a DIY capital campaign you can run in-house, a full blown capital campaign consulting engagement, or something in-between; the Abundant Giving program has a offering that is right for your church.

This comprehensive church capital campaign provides detailed documentation including:

A week-by-week schedule
Detailed task lisk
Stewardship sermons & studies
Evaluation copies of Sunday school/small group lessons
Examples of materials from other campaigns
Two complete seminars on giving & stewardship with workbooks
Forms and letters
Electronic copies of the books Pastor Driven Stewardardship and Preparing to Build.
...and much more

Also included in this offering:

Professional layout of your communication materials, using your choice of any of the 250 capital campaign themes.
Digital, print-ready artwork - ready for your printer, or ours.
Your choice of three levels of support and training to insure your church has a spiritually and financially successful capital campain.

Comprehensive enough for large campaigns, cost-effective enough for even the smallest churches, all of this, and more, is offered at a refreshingly low price that makes it affordable for churches of any size. More information is available at www.OurCapitalCampaign.com.

Capital Campaign Feedback

2009-03-02T12:37:00.004-05:00

I had a status call today with a church capital campaign client this morning, and the chairperson had a most insightful and encouraging comment. The church is two weeks away from their Committment Sunday when everyone will bring their initial offerings and ongoing peldge commitments for the 3-year giving period.

His comment to me was the leadership team felt that they already had a successful campaign and that if they were to call it quits today and not take up the collection and pledges, that their campaign was worth it in terms of spiritual growth, team building, unity, and involvment of such a large part of the body. Praise the Lord, that's the way it should be; like I say, it is not about the money.

The Year of the Church Capital Campaign

2009-02-12T16:01:00.007-05:00

The banks have money to lend, they just don't seem to want to do it. This week a number of the largest banks were called before Congress who basically told them to make more of the bailout money available for loans. Some lenders have just stopped lending to churches while others are setting the bar so high, that if you can qualify for the loan, you probably didn't need it.

The money is out there, its just not as easy to get. Banks are requiring many times the level of documentation and are lending less. A year ago, a church could reasonably expect to borrow 80% of the appraised value of a completed project (80% Loan to Value or LTV), today if you are fortunate, the lenders may lend you 80% of the project cost (as opposed to project value) and some lenders are talking 60% and 65% loans.

As one lender recently stated to me, "cash flow is King, and cash on hand is Queen." What many lenders will require to see today is
at least 20% of your project cost in cash and a monthly net positive cash flow that is 125% of the loan payment. These criteria make it very difficult for the church to borrow today without significant and time consuming preparation. To qualify for a loan, the church needs money in the bank and a history of positive cash flow. Most churches are not in this situation, even though they have an immediate need to build.

There are three things a church can do to prepare that will help it become qualified to borrow for construction:

1. Reduce Expenses. As the past treasurer of my church I can assure you that almost every budget can be cut, often dramatically. It's never easy, but it can be done. The good news is that trimming the expense side of the ministry requires only commitment and a sharp knife.
2. Increase Income. You need to have the largest possible gap (positive, that is) between income and expense. Increasing income through tithes and offerings is 50% of that battle.
3. Increase cash on hand. Put a line item in the budget for debt retirement even before you get a loan and put the money into savings. Add to this amount whatever you can by increasing giving and decreasing expenses.

Increasing income and cash on hand can both be accomplished through a church capital campaign. (Follow this link to learn more about a church capital campaign. Historically, the vast majority of churches have waited until they were about to build or were in the process before beginning a capital campaign. I believe that many churches that need to build now will not be able to get financing and begin construction until late this year or even this time next year because they cannot meet the new lending requirements of cash on hand and cash flow. Although the church may have equity, even cash equity, if they cannot show a history of positive cash flow, they probably will not be able to get adequate financing.

I believe that many churches are going to come to the hard realization that they cannot get the financing they need and that to qualify will take them many months of demonstrated financial change. I believe we will see a large number of churches want to enter into capital campaigns very soon so they may build next year. Remember, the banks will want to see 6-12 months of reduced expenses and increased giving (due in large part to a church capital campaign) before approving the church loan. The wise church will plan ahead and get their campaign underway as soon as possible. To this anticipated need, we are bringing on additional staff and looking at creative and cost effective ways to help churches execute their capital campaigns.

SonRise

2009-02-12T15:39:00.007-05:00

Depending on your point of view, this either has nothing to do with church construction, or it is the whole point. I was blessed with a copy of this sunrise photo taken by Bob Freeman who is a member of the capital campaign team at Metrocrest Church in Coppell, Texas. I think Bob's camera caught a glimpse of God "doodling" for His pleasure and Glory.

This image of the cross in the clouds appeared and disappeared in a matter of seconds, but serves to remind us of a couple of things.

That is by the grace of God that the sun rises anew each day, and with the new day, His grace and mercy are renewed as well.
And that soon, Jesus will return again, the "SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. "

Take a moment and enjoy the SonRise.

Used With Permission - Freeman Photography of Coppell

Don't Complain About Your Church Building

2009-01-19T15:24:00.005-05:00

The next time you are feeling like complaining that your church building is too small, too crowded, too cold, too dark, or that the building is preventing you from growing, think about this picture.

This is a picture of an unregistered Baptist congregation that met in the forest for 10 years because they were not allowed to have a building during the Soviet era. This picture was taken just outside what is now Kiev, Ukraine. No matter what you don't like about your building, I would wager they would have been very thankful for what you have.

Notice the Lord's Supper table in front of the congregation. How many of our churches would have 30 or more people for a service where they had to walk to church and then stand in the snow to hear a sermon, and do so in defiance of a government that was not too keen on human rights??

Photo & story courtesy of FrontLine Missions, www.frontlinemissions.info. I urge you to support FrontLine Missions or any organization that is taking the Word into areas of persecution and oppression.

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Economic Crisis Affecting Capital Campaigns

2008-11-30T13:33:00.007-05:00

Depending on what part of the country the church is in, the current economic downturn most likely affected the results of capital campaigns that were kicking off this fall. Based on the results of our church capital campaigns that were already in the planning stage for kickoff this fall, pledge commitments received are substantially less than the estimates made before the downturn. In areas especially hard hit, such as areas supported by the big three auto makers, commitments were as little as 50% of the expected range of results. In areas less impacted, results were off as little as 15% of the expected results.

It seems people are hunkering down, holding onto their money, and avoiding long range financial commitments.

In large part, it seems that commitments are reduced more because of uncertainty as to how much worse it may get before it gets better, than to real current economic hardship.

Historically, national economic stress generally has very little impact on giving. According to research from the Giving USA Foundation, which analyzes charitable fundraising, giving increased an average of 8.4 per cent in years without a recession and by 6.2 percent in years with a recession (in current dollars, before adjusting for inflation). The average rate of change in giving during a recession is a drop of only 1 percent, the foundation reports. In the worst recession year for giving, 1974, contributions dropped a total of 5.4 per cent.

The current downturn in long term giving commitments then is most likely due to the FUD factor - fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

What this means for spring 2009 capital campaigns is anyone's guess and depends a great deal on what happens over the next few months with respect to the credit crunch, major industry, and employment. More bad news will certainly not improve the FUD factor, but we need to keep the faith. If you have a need to build and you believe that God is calling you to build, then rest in the promise that He will meet your needs. Your task then is to count the cost, separate needs from wants and go forward in faith.

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt; these things are not of God. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

I'd love to hear how your fall capital campaign fared. Please post a reply with details of goal and commitment amounts. Your input will help other churches plan their capital campaigns.

You may also be interested in reading my October blog post, "Should churches build in these times of economic uncertainty?"

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Should Your Church Build In These Times Of Economic Uncertainty?

2008-10-02T16:25:00.006-04:00

I am hearing this question a lot these days, "Should our church build given the economic situation?" While a specific church situation may otherwise dictate, I believe that the general answer is that it should, if certain conditions are true.

Here's my premise. God is bigger than any economic crisis. He's bigger than Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, and Wall Street. Sadly our lives don't reflect what our money reminds us. Our forefathers were wise enough to know not to trust the money, that is why they wrote a reminder to us, "In God We Trust", on every bill.

In 2 Corinthians 9:8 Paul says, " And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;"

And Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:31:33.

We have an abundance for every good work, - not sometimes, but always! No one is going to lose their house or go hungry because they gave to the work of the Lord with a joyful heart as they respond to the leading of the Lord. Better to trust the promises of God than our feelings about our present circumstances.

What a great witness, when the entire country is pulling back, for a church to be seen growing forward! I believe a church can, and should, step out in faith and build, regardless of the world's circumstances, if the following conditions are true.

There is a real kingdom need to build. Not "want to", "would like to", or "wouldn't it be cool if", but "you need" to build. This means you are out of room and cannot accommodate the souls that the Lord is sending your way (i.e. you either build or put out a "no vacancy" sign) or it is the long-term and deeply held conviction that you are called to a ministry that you cannot provide for in your current facilities. Your church leadership and church body as a whole need to pray long and hard about the need to build and be in overwhelming concurrence (80% of more) that you truly believe you need to build.
Your church continues to see growth (the exception would be there is just no more room to grow and visitors don't come back).
You know what you need to build and what you can afford to build, given the current finances of the church. This is best accomplished through a needs and feasibility study which will not only answer these questions, but will also be able to gauge the church's readiness to build.
Your church as started or will be soon starting a capital campaign. A capital campaign is a key element in a church building program, and should be begun in advance of the construction. The benefits of a church capital campaign are too many to list here, but one of the advantages is that it will objectively determine whether the congregation will financially support a building program.

The bottom line is this truth; Lord, Your will shall not take me where Your grace will not sustain me. God’s grace is sufficient to meet our needs and accomplish His purposes.

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Need a Church Architect or Church Building Plans?

2008-09-13T00:21:00.005-04:00

If your church is in the market for a church architect or church building plans, you will want to check out this new web portal, ChurchPlansource.com

This new portal provides access to stock building plans from experienced church architects. Visitors are able to view church building plans by building size or seating capacity. If a church desires, a free consultation to help identify the most appropriate plan for a church's needs and budget is available. If the church desires to purchase one of these stock plans, an order can be placed with the church architect that supplied the plans.

Most of the plans on the site may be purchased "as-is" from previous building programs and then brought up to local building code (for fee) either by the church architect that originally designed the plan, or by an architect of the church's choice.

As one developer put it, "this is a real blessing to the church and will save a great deal of time, and effort, not to mention money." In addition to allowing users to download preliminary plans, the site offers referrals to church building and capital campaign consultants, financing sources, and builders.

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Tips on Selecting a Church Architect

2008-06-21T19:43:00.004-04:00

If you are looking for a church architect, here are some tips that you will want to keep in mind that will help you get the right architect for your church building program.

First and foremost is that there is a difference between an architect that has designed some churches, and a church architect. Designing churches is different and working with church folks is different. What ever church architect or firm you select should specialize in churches. The church architect you select should have designed dozens or even hundreds of church plans.

Secondly, the church architect you select should have experience in designing churches that are of the size, style, and complexity of the church you need to build. Just because the firm of Dewey, Cheatam & Howe has designed a few cathedrals or edifices for mainline downtown churches, does not mean that they are the right church architect to design your multi-purpose family life center. As you search for a church architect, make sure you ask to see work from other projects of the type, size, and cost of your program.

In a Q&A session with a church yesterday, I was asked yesterday what were some general qualifications that the church should look for or consider in hiring an architect. In addition to the above tips, I suggested that they look for an architect who attends church. I even suggested they may consider asking how often they attend. The reasons for suggestion this were two-fold. For one, its always better to do business with a fellow Christian when possible. Secondly, and even more importantly, is how well can an architect design a church when they don't attend?

As a church building consultant, I have been blessed to come to know several architects who specialize in church construction. You could save yourself a lot of time, effort and money, by contacting me and letting me put you in contact with the right church architect.

For additional information on question to ask church architect candidates, you may download an excerpt from my book, Preparing to Build, in the form of an article entitled 75 Questions to Ask When Hiring an Architect.

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Don't Forget the Bibles

2008-06-12T12:00:00.003-04:00

So many details get overlooked when building a new church. As you approach the end of your church building project you will be ordering new church furniture. Whether you order pews or nice church chairs, don't forget that you will also want new pew bibles (chair bibles just does not sound right). If you are expanding ministries or Christian education you may need to stock up on study bibles or teen and youth bibles.

Whether you want KJV or a foreign language bible translation, a large number of pew bibles, make sure you get them for your opening service. If you need really large numbers of bibles you can get pallet pricing directly from the printer.

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Contracting for Church Design & Construction

2008-05-30T09:01:00.007-04:00

Which Way is the Right Way? There are a myriad of ways for a church to contract for the design and construction of a new church. Today, many churches are built by what has become traditionally known as the design-bid-build method. This is the conventional general contractor approach, where the church hires an architect to design the building, the design is sent to bid, and builders submit bids to build the building, usually at a fixed cost. This is undoubtedly the worse way for the church to contract for the design and construction of their church.

There is a growing trend towards design-build, which, while better than design-bid-build, is not the best method in terms of lowering cost and risk. In a typical design-build model the church hires a builder by who, in turn, hires an architect who does the design work for the builder. The drawback, however, is that the architect works for the builder, not the church. This can put the church at a disadvantage as the possibility exists that the builder and architect can make design decisions that benefit the builder and architect (i.e. raise their profit), and not the church. In many cases, design-build has a drawback similar to that of the conventional general contractor model, a fixed price closed book contract where the church does not know all the costs of the building program and cost savings go to the builder, not the church.

Diametrically opposed to the sequential, and somewhat disjointed, design-bid-build delivery model, is the team approach using a construction manager. The team approach integrates the church, builder and designer together at the beginning of the design process to work in parallel throughout the design and construction process. This parallel team method provides the church with a number of advantages including: time savings, less duplicated effort, a design whose cost is counted throughout the development process, and a building design that is a collaborative effort rather than the product of a somewhat disjointed and adversarial process. All of these benefits add up to significant savings in time, cost and effort while producing a superior result.

If your church is planning to build, it will greatly benefit from having an “ideal model” to emulate. In the best church construction scenario, the church will have begun preparation to build well in advance of the design and construction phases, and accomplished two very important tasks. First and foremost, it should complete a needs and feasibility in order to objectively understand what it needs to build, what it can afford to build, and how to pay for it. (A needs and feasibility study is a prerequisite step for both architectural design and raising money through a capital campaign.

The capital campaign is the second task that the church should begin as far in advance of building as possible. Among other benefits, a capital campaign will help raise money for the up-front costs of building and potentially reduce the amount of money that needs to be borrowed. It would be in the church’s best interest to get a church building consultant, either from within their denomination or an independent consultant, for both the needs and feasibility and capital campaign. Both of these important tasks will be greatly enhanced by the wise counsel and experience of an outside consultant who is both experienced and objective.

This brings us to the model that will save the church the most time and money, reduce its risk and stress, and has the highest probability of providing the best building solution. The ultimate model for church construction is one with a consultant involved early in the process to determine needs and feasibility and execute a capital campaign who is working in a team consisting of a licensed architect and a construction manager working in an open book method where all costs and accounting are open to inspection and is working for a fixed fee.

The further away the church gets from this model, the greater the potential amount of cost, risk, and time the church will experience in their church building project. It is also important to remember that there is a lot of difference between an architect (or builder) that has done some churches and a church architect (of builder).

To get the full 4-pg article that describes this in more detail, you may request a copy from the author by using this contact form.

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Church Building Plans - The New Paradigm

2008-05-14T22:46:00.005-04:00

I am really exited over the relationships we have built with a number of church builders and architects. However, the relationships I am the most stoked over today are those with 3 forward looking architectural firms (who all have a heart for the church) that I believe are driving a paradigm shift in how many churches will go through the design process.

As I have previously noted, it is possible for churches to get church building plans from previous building programs for a fraction of the cost of design from scratch. Granted, these plans need to be modified for local conditions and building codes, but the church is able to save approximately half of the cost of their church design by starting with existing plans.

There are three distinct advantages, in addition to cost savings, in starting with existing church plans:

It saves time. It is much easier (read faster) to pick out an existing plan rather than try to go through the give and take process of trying to explain it to an architect. It is much like picking out a suspect from a lineup instead of trying to describe them to sketch artist.

Using existing, or stock, building plans also allows you to get an accurate construction cost early in the process from working drawings that cost as little as $2,995 - as opposed to spending 10's of thousands (or more) to get to the same point designing from scratch, especially when the vast majority of churches cannot afford to build the plans that the architect typically provides in the first pass.

Likewise, you can start the preliminary plan approval process sooner with the city or county, again, without having to invest months and tens of thousands of dollars to get this process rolling.

In addition, existing church building plans are a definitive point for identifying what changes the church would like to make. I always say "it ain't yours 'till you mess with it", and this is certainly true of church plans. By limiting changes to interior walls and not changing the fundamental structure of the building, these changes will not make a significant impact on the overall cost or invalidate the preliminary cost estimate. Once the church has made all the red-line changes they feel they need, the architect can give them a quote on turning those uncertified plans into final, sealed construction documents, usually at 40-60% less than the traditional design process.

As a church building consultant I recommend that any church should at least investigate this option as part of their due diligence. To make it even easier, we offer a church plan search service at no cost to the church. We have a close working relationship with all three of these industry changing firms and we would be please to help you find the right church building plan for your church

Next post, I will show how this fits into a larger strategy that I consider just about the best way to design and build a church.

The Worst Way to Design & Build a Church

2008-04-12T12:07:00.004-04:00

I have seen a number of articles recently that echo what I have been saying all along, that the "traditional" Design/Bid/Build (DBB) model is not the way to build churches. In DBB, the church hires an architect to design a building. That design is then put out to bid to a number of contractors. The winning bidder then builds the church.

As explained, it seems like a good way to go, but in reality, this method will take longer, cost more, cause more conflict, and reduce the church's satisfaction with the process. What happens in almost every church building project done this way is the architect over designs the building and produces a building that the church can't afford. After the design goes to bid, the church receives multiple bids that are typically 2x - 4x what the church can afford. The design goes back to the architect to be redesigned. The revised plans go back to bid and (hopefully) a reputable builder can price the job near the church's budget. The builder then helps the church value engineer the building to bring the project within the church's budget. Once again, the changes are done by the architect, and guess what, you pay for the changes again. In fairness, what I have described is the typical experience of most churches, some architects may charge differently.

For a church that does not clearly understand what they need to build and what they can truly afford, it will most likely spend tens of thousands of dollars on plans it cannot build and then spend even more to get plans that will work for the church. The best thing would be to have completed a church needs and feasibility study before talking to an architect or builder.

A lot of architects don't like what I have to say. However, the majority of architects that specialize in churches absolutely agree with my position. A number of these offer stock church plans at huge savings and/or offer services to the church at rates that are 35-50% or more below "street price".

Many of those who are now writing articles in the church magazines decrying the traditional Design/Bid/Build model (what I have been telling churches for years) are promoting the Design/Build (DB) model for building a church. While better than DBB, DB has it's own unique potential drawbacks. In a seminar this week, I was able to help a church save between $300,000 and $500,000 by explaining how modify the way they did the Design/Build contracting for their on a $4.5M project.

In a follow-up post, I will describe the best way to contract for a church building project.

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