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becominghuman · 3 years ago

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Are Buildings a Burden? (Part 1)

As a pastor, I’ve suffocated under the weight and responsibility of building management.

Yes, the larger your church, the further distance you can create between the role of the senior pastor and the responsibilities of property management. But, let’s face it, most churches are in the 50-100 people range, which means the staff carries a lot of the maintenance weight. If they don’t, they are responsible for managing the effort via recruitment of volunteers, assuring supplies are stocked, and supporting and acknowledging those that serve. . . which is simply to say, property management is a burden. Often on the shoulders of the pastoral staff. (But that’s not the biggest burden it causes. We’ll get to that in Part 2 and 3 of these reflections.)

First, a few positive things about church buildings.

Buildings and property are the most secure form of wealth, especially for an institution that relies on the voluntary participation and financial generosity of attenders. As we’ve learned, church attendance can fluctuate dramatically over any given year and especially over decades. Assets, in the form of real estate, hold their value and are more predictable than giving trends. So, with property comes security.

Historically, ministry happened in those buildings. Worship, Bible studies, youth programs, daycare, you name it. It all happened inside. The building was not only the most valuable asset in an economic sense, it was the most valuable asset in a ministry sense. There was no end to ways churches could leverage and use their buildings to minister. So, with property comes ministry opportunities.

But mostly—let’s be honest with ourselves—the biggest value of a building is that it offers a large place for Sunday worship. And what Sunday gatherings offer is potential for growth. That’s where churches invest most of their time, energy, and resources. Why? Because historically it has the best return on investment (ROI). So, with property comes scalability.

Again, here are the reasons: Security. Ministry opportunities. Scalability.

The BIG problem: those aren't totally true anymore.

Okay, perhaps real estate is still the most secure investment of wealth. But to what end? Ministry opportunities, as we are learning, abound elsewhere: in the community, in hybrid spaces, social spaces, and private spaces. And scalability in itself is not a virtue (especially if it’s only theoretical).

Security, ministry opportunities, and scalability are great if the assumption is true that people actually go to church, believe the church address is the location to do ministry, and are convinced the church (at the building) ought to grow in numerical size.

In general, those assumptions aren’t held anymore. Just ask around.

Our buildings are a burden because they are relying on a bygone era. That time is gone, but we have not evolved. Consequently, the outdated, expired constructs of yesteryear fall on the shoulders of pastors to maintain.

Buildings effectively chain our leaders down instead of launching them forward. They bind them rather than free them to do the work that we’ve called (and compensated) them to do. Buildings are a burden because building maintenance, for many pastors, has become synonymous with small-church (read: most churches) pastoral ministry.

What are buildings good for, if we are to be effective ministries today? Or better yet, how should we un-burden our pastors and our churches to minster effectively in the future? I’ll spend the next four parts of this series on these very questions.

#newministry #ministryinnovation #21stcenturychurch #churchplanting #church #churchbuilding #missional #missionalchurch #healthyministry #healthypastor

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