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Most church building and design experts agree, now is an ideal time for growing churches to build. “If you are a growing church and you were feeling the crunch for space before the economic downturn, chances are great that you’re still feeling that need now,” says Joel Forehand, LEED AP and regional director of nationwide Visioneering Studios, a master planner and designer of Christ-centered communities.
Key Factors
Highly skilled labor, too, is easy to find when the construction markets are lean. And for a church building team that performs sound due diligence to make sure subcontractors are financially stable to last throughout a building project, substantial savings can be realized. “The general contractors for our projects are reporting that they are now getting top-of-the-line subcontractors at below-market labor costs,” reports David Pfeifer, LEED AP and principal with San Diego-based Domusstudio Architecture. “The subcontractors are also incredibly responsive, timely and putting their best crews on the work in hand, all of which ultimately benefits the client.”
Is Time of the Essence? As the economy improves, the prices for materials and labor will climb—a fact that sources report has prompted them to keep churches aware of the prime building climate.
In addition, as the economic downturn drones on, the more companies—and options—will disappear from the current landscape. “The longer the recession lasts, the more small contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers will go out of business and take jobs in other industries,” Forehand says. Yet, church building projects can take two years simply for design and approvals. But the experts report that the savings associated with starting the building process now will hold firm. As Forehand states, “Taking advantage of this downturn in the economy to complete the design and approval process now can put your project in the pole position to begin construction as access to credit and capital begins to loosen up.” www.churchesbydaniels.com | www.domusstudio.com | www.visioneeringstudios.com |
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Kentucky Church to Gain 20%+ Savings in Construction Costs Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., is building with the help of church master planner Visioneering Studios, nationwide. According to Visioneering Regional Director Joel Forehand, his company just completed the bidding for Northeast’s sizable new building project.
Forehand reports that Visioneering is also finding time savings associated with the project for Northeast, with many contractors not as busy with multiple projects. “They are keeping their active projects fully staffed and cutting weeks and months off their construction schedules,” Forehand adds. www.necchurch.org | www.visioneeringstudios.com Study Exposes Economy’s Impact on Christian Nonprofits Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) of San Clemente, Calif., a national association representing some 8,000 individuals from 4,500 Christian nonprofit organizations nationwide, has released the results of a nationwide “Economic Outlook Survey” of Christian nonprofit organizations. The survey was conducted in April 2009 by J. David Schmidt and Associates of Wheaton, Ill., in partnership with CLA.
When given a list of 21 ways their organization had responded to the economic downturn, 52% reported reducing travel, 44% freezing raises and 43% cutting overall budgets for the 2009 fiscal year. Nearly 48% of respondents said first quarter income was below plan for this year. “Building cash reserves” was noted as the best past decision made by most organizations. The findings represent 250 responding organizations out of nearly 1,000 surveyed. For more information or to obtain a free executive summary, visit www.ChristianLeadershipAlliance.org. www.ChristianLeadershipAlliance.org Arizona Church Takes Advantage of Beneficial Building Climate
www.churchesbydaniels.com www.shilohcm.org National Accountability Organization Appoints Senior Vice President
ECFA is a national accreditation agency with more than 1,400 members—including some of the largest nonprofits in the country—with combined revenues of $16 billion. As senior vice president, Willmer will focus on strategic planning, marketing communications, resource development, government advocacy and membership development. “As a national spokesperson, Wes Willmer brings a wealth of practical and conceptual leadership experience to this position,” says Dan Busby, president of ECFA. “He has a unique understanding of and passion for the evangelical community, and he is committed to fostering good will among this constituency.” Willmer is often heard on national radio and is responsible for 23 books and a number of professional journal articles. He has initiated and directed more than $1 million dollars in research grants to study faith-based nonprofit organizations. www.ECFA.org 
In Search of the Recession-Proof Church
Your church’s vision of ministry is the one factor that will determine everything else. What does your church bring to your little corner of the Kingdom with a passion like no other? If you know without a doubt and can articulate it with clarity, then you have a God-given reason to exist. And that is precisely what people are looking for. How can you become more vision-driven? Dr. Jim Jackson, senior pastor of Chapelwood United Methodist in Houston periodically goes out to his neighborhood groups, meeting with two groups a week for three months. Jackson says, “If this is a genuine church, then God has given the people a vision. I’m not the only one with the vision. As I listen, it’s easy to discern the residual vision among our church body. By the time I get ready to do any fundraising, there is a natural purchase. We all buy into the vision. And resources follow vision.” Culture It all starts with vision, but there is another element that is just as important—culture. Church visionary, Sam Chand has observed that, “even the greatest vision will die in a toxic culture.” Pastor Leo Schuster of Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Houston says, “People must buy into the DNA of the church. Christ the King’s vision is to be the body of Christ to our city. So we create a culture of service where we partner with other ministries to change our community. For us, it’s not about being fed, we’re here as servants.” Culture is so important that there are specific steps you must take to foster a culture of generosity in your church. Click here for specific tips on creating a culture of generosity in your church.
A culture of generosity is built upon a foundation of transparency. Ben Stroup of Lifeway, a church stewardship strategist, says, “People want to know how the money they give is being used. If an independent source began tracking the spending habits of your church and publishing that information for everyone to review, would your church’s financial decisions stand the test of public scrutiny?” They would at North Point Church in Alpharetta, Ga. North Point posts its financials on the church website for the whole world to see. How can you foster trust and transparency? Try the Q&A. Survey a handful of people to find out what their questions are about the church and finances. Then, provide brief, direct answers in a printed Q&A hand-out, as well as on your website and in a special email to your members. You can also add a “Question of the Week” to your newsletter or bulletin. Kingdom Focus For giving to remain strong, your church must be more externally focused on Kingdom priorities than preoccupied with internal issues. Liquid Church in Morristown, N.J., is a great example of a body of believers with a focus outside its four walls, primarily because they don’t have any to begin with.
On a recent Sunday morning, two women at the hotel bar overheard Liquid’s worship music flowing out of the upstairs ballroom. When they asked the front desk about the “meeting with the cool music,” the clerk encouraged them to go check it out. They came to Liquid and were captivated as they sat listening to the service with cocktails in hand. “Attracting people right where they are is what we call a sign of health,” says Lucas. The Bottom Line The good news is that the key to a recession-proof church most likely lies within your influence. Like the pastors in the examples cited here, there are important factors at work in a church that you and your lay leaders can use to create a culture of generosity. Plant and water the seeds of generosity...and trust God for the increase (1 Cor. 3:6). Jim Sheppard (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) is CEO and principal of Generis, a consulting firm promoting the cause of generosity for God's Kingdom. He is an avid student of generosity in the church. Additionally, Jim is a proven leader and inspirational speaker. Jim is one of the leading consultants in the field of raising capital funds and has led 100 church campaigns that cumulatively produced more than $800 million in funding of Kingdom -related projects. Some of the largest church capital campaigns in America are represented among his clients.
www.generis.com | www.northpoint.org |
