TOP 5 THINGS EVERY CHURCH SHOULD KNOW
1. Understand the Budget – Know your limits! When you build new or renovate facilities, the building is only part of the total cost. The non-building or “soft” costs can add up to 20%-30% of your total costs. Know what your affordability and findability may be. This way you can plan a project that fits within your capabilities and becomes reality rather than lines on paper.
2. Start Your Financing Plan Now – Know your limits! Cash has been and always will be king. Cash flow is the new benchmark for lenders, so begin increasing your surplus or reserves now. Money is a great servant and a terrible master.
Rendering by 3Dream Studios
Photo by Emmalee Schaumburg
3. Choose the Right Partner – Find people who have done what you want to do and choose people that you would be proud to have on your staff team for a few years – that’s how long it takes and that’s what actually happens.
4. Prepare the People – Buildings are not strategies, they’re simply tools. Give your congregation pictures of the new spaces and cast vision of the life-change that will be the result. People give to vision they can trust. Always tie vision back to who you are and who God has called you to reach.
Rendering by 3Dream Studios
Photo by Emmalee Schaumburg
5. Don’t be a Copycat – See what others have done, but remember it’s based on their vision, not yours, and may not be relevant. Look for the transferrable principles that relate to your church and align with your God-given vision.
