Have you ever walked into a restaurant full of anticipation and excitement? But instead of the experience you hoped for, you were turned off by the lack of care of the facility?
Throughout my career in facility management, I have been disappointed more times than I can count. I have seen a lack of cleanliness, stained ceiling tiles, dirty HVAC grills, and cobwebs. Not to mention a visit to the restroom — yuck.
Something needs to be addressed if this sounds a bit like your church facility. First impressions say it all, including how you feel about the health and well-being of your guests.
So, what story is a dirty facility telling? To me, it indicates that either you do not care about your facilities or are in a bad financial condition to where you cannot maintain them. Now, that is just me. But there’s a high chance that your guests will share the same message.
As part two of our Facility Condition Assessment series, we will dive into how a set of fresh eyes is essential in the following paragraphs.
Not A Great Witness
In his book, First Impressions: Creating WOW Experiences, Mark Waltz, pastor of connection at Granger Community Church, addresses what it may be like to be a guest in our churches and how first impressions may not always convey the story we desire. In his book, he addresses that the first impression may be our only chance to impact their lives. He writes the following:
“When your guests are distracted from the real purpose of their visit to your church, you’ll have a difficult time re-engaging them. In order for people to see Jesus, potential distractions must be identified and eliminated.”
In short, the condition of your buildings can affect your ability to engage and minister to people. It’s up to you if you want that to be a negative or positive experience.
First Impressions Matter
Throughout my decades of planning and building church facilities, I have seen the use, abuse, and misuse of ministry facilities. I have seen churches spend millions of dollars on new buildings and neglect to change the HVAC filters, repair leaks, change light bulbs, caulk annually, and so on. This is like collecting the offering during our worship services, taking 10-20% of the money, and setting it on fire. I think we all can agree that would be ridiculous.
God provides our resources. Our money belongs to Him. And therefore, our buildings do as well. Yet, we too often act irresponsibly with the assets God has gifted us with.
I find that many church members take better care of their homes, boats, cars, motorcycles, and even their pets than they do their church facilities. Is this acceptable to you? It is not to me, and I suggest that the Church (big “C”) wake up, take notice, and do something about it.
Fresh Eyes With Our Facility Condition Assessment
I believe that God holds each of us responsible and accountable for what we do and how we handle every resource entrusted to us. That’s why we perform a fresh eyes observation at the beginning of our Facility Condition Assessments, a report where we provide organizations with data to be an intentional Facility Steward. This includes walking the roof, the perimeter of the facilities, and a walkthrough of all accessible rooms. We take anywhere from 500-2,500 pictures and videos to create the story a facility is communicating.
The fresh eyes portion of the Facility Condition Assessment is what it sounds like. We report items that may be seen by your first-time guests that you may not see anymore. We also ensure the facility is in compliance with OSHA requirements, ADA, etc. With this information, we can also report deferred maintenance and capital reserve projections.
If this sounds like something your facility would benefit from, get a free quote from our team for a fresh set of eyes.
