Tag Archive - Uncategorized
0
Comment

4 Lessons on Church Master Planning – Church Construction

May 25, 2011 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

All good church construction projects begin with a Master Plan.  A Master Plan is the 30,000 foot view of what your facilities could look like.  The master plan takes into account your current facilities,  future facilities, topography of the site and many other factors. 

The following are 4 things to consider as your beginning  the Master Plan. 

 1.  Why  - Understanding why you are doing a master plan of facilities is one of the most critical elements of a project.  “Why” is the vision piece.   Understanding why new space is need is critical to being able to generate buy-in from the congregation.  The “Why we do ministry” question is directly related to the  ”why we need space” question.  If  five people on your team are asked why your church exists and five different answers are given, begin with getting everybody on the same page, using the same terminology.  It’s easier to pull your team back into focus during the challenging moments of construction if you really have a good “why”.

2. What - ”What” is driven by need and highest potential ministry return for you dollar.  If you’re children’s area has so many kids in it that oxygen is an issue, make sure it’s at the top of your “what” list.  You have to understand where your challenges really are to determine your what.  That sounds simple and it can be but real data is needed about the church.  Start by keeping good attendance records.  If you aren’t already doing that, start with last weekend and go forward.  This information is critical to good master planning.

3. How -  There is a balance between affordability and Trusting God.  If the church is growing, the chances are you need much more ministry space than you can afford.  Determining “How” you will be able to afford the building is not just important to the project but to the ministry afterwards.  Bite off more than you can chew and Sunday’s begin to orbit around raising money.  Don’t bite off enough and the debt on the building will keep you from building anything else for 5-7 years.  If you move into the building and the glass ceilings from the old space have been reinstalled in the new growth will be impeded.

4.  When – The master plan looks at what might be possible on your property and divides it into managable phases for construction over 7-10 years.  It’s high level, but it will help your church realize what giving can help you do now, and when they can expect to see facilities pop up over the next decade.  It also gives people the opportunity to see the big picture of where you’re going with expansion.  You’re casting vision way beyond the first phase of construction. 

“People want to be fired up about their church, it’s our job as leaders to throw gas on the fire”

When you’re ready to talk about your master plan shoot me an email or reply to a blog post and we’ll start a conversation. 

 

0
Comment

How To Build Your Church Construction Team – Competency

May 24, 2011 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

This is article number 2 on ”How to Build Your Church Construction Team”/   Click here to read the first article in this series and download the “Selection Matrix”, which is the basis for all these articles. 

You can also put “Quick Start” in the search field to the left and find all the related articles as we move forward. 

 

Competency

Competency is a person or organization’s fundamental capacity to do the work you are hiring them to do.  That sounds really obvious, but I recently worked with a church that had to fire their builder well into the design because the bank wasn’t willing to loan large amounts of cash to a church being built by a home builder.  Being competent is more than the know how, it also about relevant experience.

Relevant experince drives competence.

All churches aren’t created equal so experience building a church doesn’t necessarily mean that experience is relevant to your church.   You’re looking for partners who can demostrate work they’ve done that is similar to what you about to build.   Then you want to try to talk with the people who led those projects as well to get a good feel for what to expect from the experience. 

 Along with giving the banker peace of mind, competent parters will help you avoid issues unique to churches.  For instance, building code might state the need for  1 parking space for every 4 occupants.  1 to 4 is great for commercial facilities, but we find anything less than 1 space for every 2.5 people can cause a parking problem.  The one day of the week all of your “customers” show up they will need a place to park.  Make sure you understand this.  Your growth will be limited by the number of cars you can get on your property.  there is the issue of how far people can sit from the speaker while he’s communicating and still feel like they’re in the same zip code.   Do you know what that distance is? It’s nice if you do but you should have to know, that’s the job of the architect and builder.

During the course of a normal church construction process there are many opportunities to get off course.  You have the most control over the project in the beginning so make sure you begin with a great team.

6
Comment

5 Things Great Lay Leaders Do

May 3, 2011 in Church Construction, Leadership with 6 Comments

I recently began working with a church who has incredible lay leadership.  As I’ve gotten to know them I’ve learned a few things about lay leaders and the culture every church wants to create.  Here are 5 things great lay leaders do.  Leadership Within Corporate Culture

1 Support Publicly

Great Lay Leaders (GLLs) support the vision of the church.  Actually they do more than that. (yes I did just disagree with myself, happens all the time)  They become the vision of the church.  In most churches that means investing in people and inviting them to come be part of the church while helping their faith grow.

2 Challenge Personally

I know the saying is “support publicly and challenge privately” which is a great moto, but GLLs take that one step farther, they challenge the staff on a personal level.  They want to make sure you’re “smokin what you’re sellin”.    They hold you to a higher standard of living so you can lead by example.  They dare you to move forward and stand by you every step.

3 Lead From Competency

GLL’s know when to lead and when to follow.  They don’t just have an area of expertise that is beneficial to the church, they know when to use it and offer it gladly. They get that we are first “followers” of Christ.

4 Take Ownership

GLLs don’t veiw service as “helping you out”, they truly own the vision of the church.  They support it with their time, with their skill and with the Benjamins.   They are submitted to the ministry the way Christ commanded.

5 Influence Influencers

Influencers influence other influencers.  John Maxwell’s Law of Multiplication says “if you want to add growth lead followers….if you want to multiply, lead leaders”.  GLLs know a leader when they see one.  They show them where to go, what to do and they lend their influence to grow them to grow the influence of other leaders.

Every organization has a heart that is made up of the passion the people have for what they do.  If you sell ice cream for a living you should have people that are excited and engaged about creating and incredible enviornment for people to experience.  If you’re selling something a little more important, like the value of a relationship with Jesus, the heart of your church should have a ”WE’RE FIRED UP!!” tatooed on it.  

The Church I’m working with has a pastor that is obviously excited about Jesus and that’s were it starts.   If you’re fired up, sooner or later …..your lay leaders will be too.

0
Comment

Church Construction – When should you build?

May 2, 2011 in Church Construction, Leadership, Money with 0 Comments

How do you know when its time for your church to build?  Here are four things to think about when you’re thinking about building.

1. Finances – obviously money matters when you’re building a new facility.  Here is blog I wrote specifically on Church Construction and Money.

2. Max Facility Use - Do you have a document that outlines how your facility is currently being used for ministry?  The least expensive ministry space you’ll ever have is what you have right now.  Before you think about building or renovating a thing, you want to make sure you’ve thought through every square foot of the current facility.  How many services are you in right now?  Could you add another one?  Could you do a video venue?   My church uses the same space on Sunday Mornings for middle school and Sunday afternoon for high school.  Do you really need all that Sunday school space or could it be repurposed for a more effective use?  (Touchy subject I know)

3. R U Ready? – This is the one thing most pastors I work with fail to realize.  This process will take more of your energy than you think.  It will take more of your time than you think.  It takes longer than you think and it will require you to spend more of your influence than you think.

Being ready means  you’ve got your hands wrapped tightly around the vision God has given you, hold on to it.   You’ll constantly need that vision to recenter you when the difficulty arises.   It means you don’t have secrets.  (I trust you know what I’m talking about).  Secrets often find a way not to be so secretive when you are trying to make a big impact for the kingdom.  Being ready means you’ve weighed the cost and you are personally ready to pay it.

IF THE LEADER ISN’T READY….THE CHURCH ISN’T READY!

4.  The “Great Deal” -  Stumbling on great deal for land, or a building does not mean it’s time for you church to build.  I met with a church a couple years back that bought 11 acres for their church because the price had dropped so much. Now they are trying to sell 11 acres in a down market because they realized, because of location, they would benefit more by renovating a building than from building a new one.  ’There is a difference between a “great deal” and a “great deal for your church”.

Facilities must move you in the direction of the vision.

 

So, are you ready?

 

0
Comment

The Principle of The Path – Andy Stanley

April 19, 2011 in Leadership, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

I’ve just been listening to The Principle of The Path by Andy Stanley again and I thought I’d share with you the key principle in the book.  See my diagram here.

Our attention determines our direction, and our direction determines our destination.

Obvious stuff right? So tell me about your destination. Where are you heading? Where do you want your marriage to end up? How about your relationship with your kids? Or your church? Do you have a specific vision for the most important things in your life? Or are you on a different path?

If I really know where I’m heading shouldn’t the answer to those questions be very clear to me? When they don’t, chances are, I’m already pretty far down the wrong path.

What relationships do you need to have to get there? Who pushes you forward! Who moves you back? Who has the potential to destroy your dreams? (think about this one for a second)

What are you putting into your mind? What are you putting into your body? When was the last time you heard God’s voice?

What’s step # 1 for getting on the right path?

Is your destination driving your direction or is your direction driving you somewhere you don’t want to go?

0
Comment

Church Construction – How To Choose The Right Team

April 13, 2011 in Church Construction, Leadership with 0 Comments

Author and speaker John C. Maxwell always says “Teamwork makes the dream work!”  If you’re lighting the fires on a building project, you’re about to experience the reality of that statement.  Having the right people, in the right seat, will make or break your construction project and has serious benefits, or consequences to your church when the project is over.

Enter the Matrix…..No not the movie The Matrix the Selection Matrix.  The Selection Matrix is actually a very simple tool that helps do one thing well.  It helps us “Decide ahead of time how we’ll make decisions.”  This tool can help you make tactical decisions about partnership that drive your project forward.  It can be used for hiring architects, builders, capital stewardship companies etc.  You may be thinking “why would a builder tell us how to hire a builder?”  The answer is simple, and has two parts.

  1. I truly believe great partnerships are built on firm foundations.  Firm foundations begin with a solid decision making process.
  2. I believe Cogun Inc. is the best thing going when it comes to helping churches get exactly what they need for what they can afford.  If I help you get better at making decisions, I hope to earn the right to build your church.

Click  Selection Matrix to see the document.

Over the next couple days I’m going to be sharing some of the critical criteria a church should consider before they hire their professional team of designers and builders.   Here are some of the criteria  I’ll be covering.

  • Competence
  • Relevant Experience
  • Chemistry
  • Cost Controls
  • Creativity
  • Financial Stability
  • Trust
  • Equal Yoking

Stay tuned.

1
Comment

3 Things To Know About Church Construction Budgets

April 7, 2011 in Leadership, Uncategorized with 1 Comment

One of the first things we accomplish when we take on a new client is to nail down just how much the church can afford.  Understanding Affordability is the Critical Success Factor in any church construction project.  One of the biggest communication miss-steps is when the church says they have $3,000,000 to spend and then they begin to design a $3,000,000 building. 

DOWNLOAD THIS FIRST  New Construction Sample Budget

Today I’m going to walk you through 3 budgets you need to be concerned with during construction

  1. Construction Budget – Just like it sounds the construction budget is everything involved in the physical construction of the building.  That sounds simple and it can be.  If you’ve ever heard the phrase “good fences make good neighbors” you get the sense of how important it is to determine exactly what the builder is planning to be responsible for.  Because if they aren’t responsible for it guess what….you are.  You need to ask a million questions and make sure that both you, and the builder understand who is responsible for what items.  When they reply, if you have gaps in your understanding, ask another question.  (For more on this technique talk to a 7 year old girl and try to explain to her why she can watch Hanna Montana like everyone else, when she starts asking questions you’ll get a good feel for how you should be with your builder)

 CLARITY = GREAT RELATIONSHIP

  1. Soft Cost Budget – The Soft Cost Budget is everything related to the project that isn’t covered under the Construction Budget.  Things Audio, Visual, Lighting, Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment.  Permits, preparing the site may or may not be covered in the construction cost.   You can see from the included picture that there are quite a few items that fall into this category.  Usually between 25% and 40% of the cost is related to the Soft Cost Budget.    That means in a $3,000,000 budget $750,000 to $1,200,000 will be Soft Costs. 

 Can you see why it’s important to make sure you let the budget drive the project? 

  1. Total Construction Budget – When a church tells me they have $3,000,000 for construction, this is usually the number they’re talking about.  Most churches think in “soup to nuts” terms when it comes to money.  Like I wrote at the top, it is incredibly important to determine just what the Total Construction Budget is as early in the process as possible so it can be used to make every decision that adds or takes away cost from the project. 

 I like to manage these three budgets as independent parts of the whole.  When a church decides to add $50,000 to their audio budget I want them to have to make a decision about where it comes from in another part of the budget.  Does it come out of the furniture budget or are we giving up square footage for it?  This is exactly how we manage our personal budgets right?  We don’t spend money and then go and ask to have our budget increased.  We try to get as much as we can for what we have.

If you have any questions about putting your budget together shoot me an email at rwchancy@cogun.com.  I’d love to help!

4
Comment

7 Ways Smart Churches Are Using Social Media

April 6, 2011 in Leadership, Uncategorized with 4 Comments

What is your church doing to leverage Social Media?  Here are just a few things to think about as you move into the age of technological evangelism.

  1. Podcasts – If you don’t do anything else here, do this!  Podcasts are too easy for people to share with their friends.
  2. Blogging – Here’s how Athens Church (A North Point Strategic Partner) is using their blog to keep their congregation up to date on our renovation project.  Click Here and make sure you scroll down to see the pics.  Feel free to vote for the T-Shirt as well.  
  3. Vlogging – (Video Blogging) If people see that you’re a real person they’re more likely to connect with you.  Click Here to see my latest. 
  4. Twitter – 7% of Americans are on Twitter (the real influencers like you and I).   This is an easy way for you to add value to people every day.  If you do it well people will feel more connected to you.   FYI –Tweet stuff that matters. 
  5. Facebook – 42.3% of Americans are on Facebook.   4 OUT OF 10 PEOPLE YOU ARE TRYING TO REACH ARE ON FACEBOOK.    Somebody needs to be on this at your church.   Click Here to like my Facebook Fan Page.  (Keep in mind I have acceptance issues if you decide not to “like” me) 
  6. Youtube – My church (North Point Community Church) does this well.  Click Here to see what I’m talking about.   See how easy that is to share?
  7. Be Human – Our biggest challenge in reaching the “lost” is to stop thinking of them as lost people and start thinking of them as “my neighbor Todd”.   Using technology to bridge the gap between the people who love Jesus and “Todd” is THE most effective use of social media.

 

How is your church using social media to reach people?   Even if you never comment on blogs, don’t be stingy with your ideas.  Share the love Man!!!  If you’d rather send an email and have me post it, you can get me at rwchancy@cogun.com

2
Comment

Andy Stanley On Confession

April 5, 2011 in Leadership, Uncategorized with 2 Comments

 These are my notes from 3.27.11 at North Point Community Church.  Andy Stanley and Jeff Henderson are in 6 part series call Life Apps.  With so much pressure against us is so easy to fail morally.  Confession is the key to prevention.  So here are my notes.

James 1:22 (NIV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Application is everything.  Listening is nothing.  Doing is everything.

 Life app 1 is forgiveness

Forgiven people forgive people.  who can hold us accountable

 Life app 2 is Confession

In every religious system there is some sort of ploy where we try to outsmart God.  But trying to outsmart God IS A SIN.

 Somewhere along the way we began to believe that confession was about relieving our guilt.  Emptying out sin bucket.  Genuine confession serves as a first step towards repentance and reconciliation.  Change is the ultimate goal of confession.

 Genuine confession leads to genuine change.  Confessing our sin to God is almost always attached to confessing our sin to those we’ve offended and to those who can hold us accountable.

 Numbers 5:6-7 (NIV)

“Say to the Israelites: `When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty [7] and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged.

In the Old Testament confession was attached to restitution

 Luke 19:8-9 (NIV)

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” [9] Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.”

Genuine confession leads to genuine change.

 James 5:16 (NIV)

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

 Genuine confession leads to genuine change.  Let the light of God’s truth shine in.  Secrets are like splinters, the longer it’s in there the more it hurts.  The best thing to do is get it out.  If you have a secret sin an you’re in the habit of saying to God I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry, there is a word for that.  Hypocrite.  If you have a routine worked out with God and you continue to sin confess sin confess YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE.

 Genuine confession leads to genuine change.

 If you think “I got a thing worked out but I’m not going to change.  I’m not ready to change.”  ATLEAST PRAY HONEST PRAYERS

Pray honestly and tell God you’re going to keep on doing what you’re doing.  Be honest without yourself and be honest with God.  Admitting things to God that he already knows is worthless.  Just tell him you aren’t willing to quit.

 If You’re Ready

 If you are ready you just tell the person you’ve hurt, and maybe someone you know who can help you defeat it the sin and hold you accountable.

There are sin habits you can’t break by telling God about it.  The genuine change comes when you open you’re soul and confess.

 We fear the consequences of confession more than we fear the consequences of concealment.

 Ultimately the consequences of concealment are far worse than the consequence of confession.

 At the end of the day Genuine confession leads to genuine change.

 What do you need to tell and who do you need to tell it to?

Click Here to Download the message from Andy Stanley on Confession.  Or click play below to listen to it here.

1
Comment

10 Reasons Building A Church Isn’t Like Buying a Car

April 4, 2011 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

10 reasons building a church isn’t like buying a car or anything else for that matter.

  1. A car can make you cool.  Church made Steven Furtick cool, but not Perry Noble, so you can’t always count on church to make you cool.
  2. Churches gets better gas mileage – they’re wind powered.
  3. All cars play traditional and contemporary music.

  4. Cars change regularly to attract new people.
  5. Cars don’t wish they were other cars and talk about why the other cars are so popular because they aren’t true to the manufacturer. (Gotta think on this one)
  6. Cars don’t believe in Hell, some churches do. (Sorry Rob, that was a cheap shot)
  7. We buy cars to get us somewhere.  When we get to church…we think we’re already there.
  8. Your ministry can survive if you spend too much on a car...
  9. There’s no base model church - you don’t come in and pick the red one and have us throw in some spinners.
  10. While driving too fast can make you see Jesus, He doesn’t use cars to get people into heaven.

Here is where the analogy breaks down.

If you decide to by a corvette, and you go to four different dealers and get prices and the lowest price for the same awesomeness is $65,000, do you buy it?

It depends right?  It depends on what you can afford.

Too many people are getting awesome deals on cars they can’t afford.  Affordability IS the dealmaker.  (I’m thinking about getting a forehead tattoo with that on it).   “Understand what you can afford and then go out and make the deal with someone you can trust.” (Sidebar – did you know when you trade a car in; the sales guy gets paid a percentage of the difference between the real value of what you car is worth and what he can get you to take for it?  If you trade them in, have the KBB value printed and in you hand)

Back to affordability

There’s a lot of work that determines what you can “really” afford to spend on a car.  If you’re building a church, that process is magnified.  You have to know how much cash you can raise, what the bank will loan, what the payments on the debt will be to make sure you construction budget doesn’t have an affair with your operating budget and run away with her.

How will inflation affect you affordability?  Are there major, one time, expenses coming your way that will impact operating income and limit your borrowing?

Are you scared yet?  Good….fear is good for making you think before you act.  Heading into a car dealership, or a church expansion project without a grasp of affordability is like rolling the dice at the craps table, you may win from time to time, but when you lose it’s really gonna bite. (not a great analogy for a pastor but it’s better than the one I was working on about planning for the spirit to move instead of preparing a sermon)

If you church is growing fast, sooner or later you have to build or renovate.  Have a plan, get the right people around you from the start before you spend a dime.

If I can help I’d love to be part of the journey with you. I’m passionate about serving churches and would love an opportunity to talk with you about joining you staff to walk you through the process of clarifying exactly what you need and balancing it with what you can afford so you can CRUSH IT FOR JESUS in your city.

Email me and lets set up a time to get to know each other over the phone.

rwchancy@cogun.com

706.830.3782

 

 

Page 1 of 512345»

© 2012 www.ChurchConstructionBlog.com  |  Powered by the BigFoot Technorati