As published in Worship Facilities Magazine, Jan/Feb 2009
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Dean Johnson, executive director, NACFM, Lubbock, TX
Just before WFX in Houston this past fall, Johnson took time to answer our questions about the association he has directed for the past several years. Read on to learn about the NACFM and the benefits it can offer church facilities managers.
WFM: How did you ultimately wind up in your role as executive director of the NACFM?
Johnson: I will always stand amazed at how God works things out in His timing. One of my spiritual gifts is service. After joining [First Baptist Church] FBC Lubbock in 1990, I was given several opportunities to use that gift on committees, task forces, mission trips, etc. The church reorganized their staff in 1994 and created a director of facilities position. I was asked to fill that position and accepted. [During my work I met] Vanoy Hooker, [then facilities director at FBC Richardson, Texas] and he told me that he was going to start an organization of facilities managers and wanted to know if I would be interested. The rest, as they say, is history. [Johnson recently accepted the position of business administrator for FBC Lubbock in addition to his role as NACFM executive director.]
I was one of 19 at [NACFM’s] first meeting in Copper Mountain, Colo., in June of 1995. Through the years I have had the privilege to serve in different leadership roles of the association. When the executive director position became vacant in February 2007, I was asked by the board of directors to fill [it]. It is an honor and a great responsibility that would not be possible without the support of my family, my church, the board and the membership of the NACFM.
WFM: Tell us what about the NACFM is most dynamic, and tell us about its core purpose.
Johnson: The most dynamic thing about NACFM is its membership. It’s who we are and what we do that makes us unique. I doubt very seriously that any of us in our position expressed a desire to our high school counselor to be a church facility manager. We come from all walks of life, all professions and all denominations. The common thread the majority of us [share] is a love for the Lord and a desire to be a servant. We have ended up where we are by working in volunteer positions, being a part of a committee or working for the church and having a knack for getting things done on a partial budget.
The purpose of the NACFM is to empower and serve. There are several secular groups that offer education and support, but when we looked for the things that were unique to a church, it was difficult to find anyone that understood where we were coming from. We are not income-supported, we are tithe- and offering-supported. We don’t answer to a CEO; we answer to the member whose need is most important in their mind at that particular time and place. In most cases we do not have redundancy or state-of-the-art equipment because of the financial needs of the other ministries.
The biggest service we offer [is] networking. We have several events throughout the year where members can get together for training…. Our National
Conference and our spring and fall certification programs are great opportunities for this. We also have a forum on our website where members can ask any question and get almost immediate responses. We share our knowledge with each other in the different papers written or procedure manuals or evacuation policies. We have prayer chains and a Web section so our spouses can support each other.
WFM: How is the role of a facility manager evolving today? And how can the NACFM help prepare facilities managers for success?
Johnson: Back in the day, a facility manager had to know how many part-time workers he needed for Christmas and Easter, where to kick the boiler to make it run, and where he put the bucket after the last big rain. Today, a facility manager must know about green energy and cleaning, human resources, IT systems, how to manage shortfalls in the budget, energy management systems, security issues, design build or design bid build, and the list goes on…. At our certification programs we teach 24-26 different subjects and still just scratch the surface. Most all of us have expertise in a few of these, a knowledge of most of these and with the NACFM, a resource to all of these.
To find out more about NACFM membership, visit www.nacfm.org.