Church facilities and property management can be easily overlooked as something to put on the back burner until a church leader has time to deal with it. But property and facility management is rarely an afterthought type of job – it takes a concerted effort, and it may fall by the wayside if you’re not aware of the attention it needs.
Maybe your church is in a situation like many others, and you rent the space you use on Sunday mornings. Or maybe you have your own building but you simply don’t have the budget to hire or outsource full time cleaning staff. This is a common space for churches to be in, and it can be tricky to know the best way to move forward with cleaning and repair services.
The good news is that you do have options (like volunteers or part time staff) to care well for your worship space, even with limited resources.
Making a decision about whether to bring on a volunteer team truly depends on your current staffs capacity. If you or other team members are full to the brim with work, adding facility responsibilities on top of that may not be the best move. There will inevitably be property management challenges that you as a pastor will likely not be equipped to handle – and that’s okay! Because just like an office administrator or worship pastor, there are others who are equipped to handle areas of your church life, so you don’t have to carry it all.
If you’re in a place of knowing that you simply can’t handle more property maintenance and pastor your church well, it’s time to consider what role a volunteer or paid facilities manager needs to play in your church. This decision can be based on your church size, its unique needs, and weekly events.
Do you need a weekly cleaning service and nothing more? Or do you have multiple groups and events happening on campus daily that require continued maintenance and coordination?
A few of your options based on your church’s situation are:
Sourcing From the Inside
Before you go out and hire a full or part time employee for your church’s facilities services, remember that this isn’t your only option! Especially if your church is smaller and you only need standard cleaning and the occasional repair made, start with the talent and resources already in your congregation.
Maybe you have a member of your church who’s a handyman and could set up a contract with the church, or you have a retired electrician who wants to spend volunteer time serving.
It’s a great idea to start with the people who already know, love, and want to serve your church. If working with them is a good fit and your church’s needs aren’t too demanding, you should be set for a good while.
Mixing + Matching
There really isn’t one right way to set up facilities management for your church, which means you can set it up in whatever way works best for your church as it grows. This could look like having a few part time staff for different in-house responsibilities, a team of volunteers who work together to clean after every Sunday service, or contracting services based on month-to-month needs. The point is that you have the freedom to adjust who you hire and when – you can make it work based on what you need
A Full Team
It’s time to consider building out your facilities team if your church’s property management needs are becoming over-whelming. This could be a great move before your church embarks on a major renovation or expansion project, for example. Having someone who knows the industry and understands the ins and outs of managing a large-scale project for your property can be a huge advantage throughout the entire construction process!
At the end of the day, choosing the best set up for your facility management team is about your current leadership team’s bandwidth, the volunteers within your congregation, and the demands of your facility.
More so than having the most efficient or cost effective facilities management plan, we would encourage you to have a plan that allows your church to steward its resources as responsibly as possible.
The facility matters because it’s a gathering place for the people of God – however you can care for that space with the resources you’re able to work with is the best way to go.
