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Facility Management

This collection provides leaders with the tools needed to effectively manage their church or congregation's physical location using facility management solutions.

Resources

4 Resources
organization
Smart Church Solutions
This company assists congregations in planning, building, and managing their facilities.
article
ENERGY STARĀ® Action Workbook for Congregations
This government publication provides congregational facility managers with useful information...
web resource
FacilitiesNet
This website provides up-to-date information on all things related to facility management,...
book
The Facility Management Handbook
This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about managing a facility, ranging...

Guest Contributor

Contributor
Kate White

Kate was the associate director for resources at the Center for Congregations. She managed educational resources and worked to get the best resources into the hands of congregations.

Church Facility Management Solutions

Leaders can find ways to effectively manage their church or congregation's physical location appropriately through church facility management solutions. While the pastoral staff focuses on their congregational community, pastoral care and sermons, they are often also tasked with taking care of their physical locations. A neglected building, after all, will likely reflect poorly on the congregation as a whole. That is where church facility management solutions can be helpful. There are numerous ways in which congregations of all types can put solutions in place to help improve the management of their buildings.

If congregations are looking for a way to improve the management of their physical building, they might want to focus on their church administration and leadership. Their leadership is likely going to be instrumental in managing their physical location. This could include things such as maintenance tasks, indoor decorating, repair bills, and all the equipment needed in order to effectively carry out the church's mission. If leaders are able to improve the management of their physical location, then they will be more able to focus on the heart of their mission and place their congregation in the best position possible to be successful moving forward.

Congregations want to do everything they can to reach out to the local community. This is a process that can likely start with having a strong building in place. There is a common saying that there is never a second chance to make a good first impression. Oftentimes, a person's first impression of a specific church is what they see as they drive by. With this in mind, it can be good for leadership to focus on their church visioning process and ensuring that they work to make their vision a reality. That is where church facility management can come in handy. If these groups are able to focus on the management of their facility, they will be better able to expand their footprint in the local area.

Church Directory Software

In addition, leaders may also have to take steps to manage their membership directory. Of course, they may want to make sure that they have a good idea of how many people are likely going to be arriving at the building on Sunday for their sermon. After all, if they are not able to track this number efficiently, they may find themselves facing difficulty in having enough room for everyone. Or, conversely, the room may look empty if they plan for a lot of people who do not show up. In order for leadership to manage their membership effectively, it may be good for them to use church directory software. This can potentially be seen as one of the key smart church solutions in the modern era.

If leaders are looking for a strong program that they can use to help improve the management of their church, then they might consider using universal church directories. Through this directory, they can also focus on their budgeting habits. For example, they can take a look at how much money the church has brought in per member. It can be worth taking steps to see how much money members are donating on average. And even though they are not likely going to want to call out specific members, when it comes to how much money they are giving, they might still want to see how much money the average member is giving. If they have noticed that the average amount that someone is contributing is starting to drop, for instance, they might want to figure out why. That way, they can potentially begin taking steps to address this before their budget can end up in a tight spot.

In addition to income, they want to also take a look at how much money the church itself is spending. That way, they can be better able to budget accordingly. For example, if leadership notices that their property expenses are starting to go up, then they are likely going to want to figure out why. Is there a specific utility that is costing more money than it should? Or, could they be spending more money on repairs than they thought they would? The faster leaders can address these problems, the quicker they can likely start getting their budget back on track. That is yet another area in which church directory solutions can prove to be helpful.

Unique Church Solutions

Of course, there are other ways that leadership can manage their church, as well, including numerous unique church solutions available to streamline their operations. For example, they may want to take advantage of mobile church solutions. Today, virtually everyone out there carries a cell phone with them, and in this sense, leaders have a direct line of communication with everyone on the church leadership team. In fact, they also have a direct line of communication with all of the congregation members. With this in mind, it might be helpful for them to consider using social media platforms to help reach out to various members of their congregation and leadership team. That way, they can help make sure that their church is able to remain at the front of everyone's mind.

If leaders have a smaller church group, then they may want to instead use a small church directory. While this software program may not be as large as some of the other options out there, it can still be incredibly useful when it comes to the management of their membership directory. In many ways, directories that are used by smaller churches can actually be more customizable, and able is tailored to meet their specific needs. Perhaps the most important thing, however, is that they take advantage of these solutions in order to help streamline their daily operations. Time is the one thing that you cannot make more of, after all. And with this in mind, then perhaps the fewer time leaders spend worrying about these issues, the more time they can likely spend in focusing on their congregation, which can possibly make it easier for them to carry out their mission.

Church Directory App

If leaders are looking for a way to help connect with members, then they may want to use something called a church directory app. This church directory template can be a great option for allowing congregation members to more easily communicate with one another. For instance, if members are trying to set up a small group session, then it may be a good idea for them to take advantage of a universal church directory app. That way, they can take a look at who is in their geographic area, compare various times for a potential meeting, and then get a small group session set up.

Of course, as a member of the church leadership team, leaders should perhaps take advantage of church directory options, as well. For example, there may be some members who are looking for a way to communicate with members of the church leadership team electronically, and they may also like the anonymity of this method. Then, they can either choose to respond to their question directly or decide to answer it as part of their Sunday sermon. Remember, if one person has a specific question, then there's likely a good chance that other members of the congregation will have that same question. They can even potentially use this church directory app to help field questions from multiple members of the congregation. From there, they may be able to then use this information to help tailor the topic of their next sermon.

Church Directory Examples

If leaders are wondering how they can use a church directory, there are numerous church directory ideas that they should perhaps take note of. One of the top church directory examples that they might consider taking advantage of involves membership checklists. It can be good for leaders to make sure that they understand how many people they are going to likely expect at their Sunday sermon. That way, they can begin to plan accordingly. They can also use this membership directory to send out emails to various numbers. For instance, if there is an outreach event coming up, then they will certainly not want to email each member individually. Instead, they can use a church directory to set up an email list service.

Of course, they can also use a printed church directory for various members of the congregation. For example, if they are interested in tracking small group attendance, or are interested in setting up a Sunday school, then they may want to use a printed church directory to do exactly that. This can represent a great way for leaders to streamline their operations and help make everything more efficient.

Ultimately, they may have to make sure that they take advantage of church directories. If they decide to do this electronically, then they may be able to significantly reduce the chances of making a mistake. If they have an accurate count of the current membership, then they will likely have an easier time with planning in the future.

Church Checklists

Facility managers may need to take advantage of church checklists in order to help improve the management of their daily operations. If leadership wants its physical location to remain intact, then they might look into using a torch operations checklist to make sure that each individual part of the church is being maintained in a timely manner. For instance, if they do not take care of the HVAC system, then its lifespan is likely going to be reduced significantly. Then, they may end up having to replace the HVAC unit earlier than expected. This is only one small part of numerous daily operations that the administration team may be required to take care of.

In addition, there are electronic tasks that leadership may have to carry out on a regular basis. For example, they might want to take steps to make sure that their cybersecurity is intact. As strange as it sounds, there are hackers out there who may choose to target a church organization from time to time. Therefore, it can be good for leadership to make sure that they have someone in charge of their electronic maintenance tasks. That way, they can work to help prevent these issues from happening. They can also take a look at their website, server, and network in order to make sure that everything is intact. Facility operations managers can often be required to make sure that everything in the church is being taken care of appropriately, which can help reduce the chances of problems arising in the future.

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