Institutional Maintenance:
Does It Drain Your Congregation?
A New Life Ministries Report
by Steve Clapp and Kristen Leverton
Helbert
Institutional Maintenance Concerns
Our churches are the body of Christ, communities of faith,
gathered believers who minister in our Lord’s name. But they are also
human institutions and require money, time, and energy to remain healthy. If
the roof leaks, it has to be repaired or even replaced. The electricity bill
must be paid. There have to be enough volunteers to fill the offices and
responsibilities of the organization: a church treasurer, Sunday school
teachers, musicians, and commission members, among others.
These institutional needs, of course, are important to the
church’s overall mission. Few churches can function without a treasurer to pay
the bills. In most climates in North America, corporate worship is not going to
be possible (or at least not pleasant!) without the roof and the furnace in good
condition. And Sunday school teachers and musicians play vital roles in the life
of the church.
Some congregations find, however, that the needs of the
church as an institution begin to make it difficult for the church to be fully
centered on God’s mission. One congregation, for example, wanted to sponsor a
refugee family but found it impossible to find enough volunteers because almost
all the active members already felt overloaded with responsibilities. Another
church had to reduce its giving to denominational programs and mission agencies
by over 50% because of increases in the cost of health insurance for church
staff and because of higher natural gas prices.
Christian
Community (one of the partner organizations of New Life Ministries) has
conducted a survey on the stewardship practices of over eleven hundred
congregations. Sixty-three percent (63%) of those churches are spending a larger
percentage of their budgets on staff salaries and benefits now than five years
ago. There are two primary reasons for that trend. First, the cost of health
insurance and other benefits has increased significantly in recent years.
Second, churches with declining membership often must use a greater percentage
of resources to continue having the same level of staffing as in the past.
An
Institutional Maintenance Checklist
Use this
short Institutional Maintenance
Checklist to get an idea of how big a problem maintenance concerns
are for your congregation. It’s possible that you may check agreement with
two, three, or even four of the items on the checklist and still be part of
a church that is, on the whole, very strong and vibrant. Think about how
serious the concerns are for your congregation.
Taking Control of Institutional
Maintenance Issues
What can you do if institutional maintenance concerns seem
to be draining your church, making it difficult to center on God’s mission?
- 1. Work to
improve the overall stewardship of your congregation.
- Rather than simply "raising money," find ways
to help the members and constituents of your church relate their spiritual
lives to their giving practices. The book The
Desires of Your Heart—Financial Giving and the Spiritual Life
(available through New Life
Ministries) is an excellent resource for changing the approach to
finances in your congregation.
-
- 2.
Evaluate carefully the organizational structure of your church.
- Simply changing the organizational structure or plan of
your church won’t, by itself, bring new life and energy. But a plan that
requires too many people and too many meetings may be draining valuable
energy from the church. Consider a leaner plan of church organization, which
relies more on short-term mission groups or action teams than on large,
continuing commissions. Talk with denominational staff about changes that
might increase efficiency and excitement.
-
- 3. Think
about the current staffing level of your church.
- Is your church still maintaining the same level of
staffing as when it was much larger in membership? Is it possible that a
full-time pastor is no longer viable? Perhaps you should consider the
possibility of helping your full-time pastor find another congregation and
then use an alternative staffing approach: perhaps your church could be well
served by a bivocational pastor, a retired pastor, a student pastor, or even
a pastoral team called out from the existing membership. Perhaps your church
and a neighboring congregation could share the cost of a full-time pastor
who would work with both churches. Or perhaps your church needs more
staff for growth and health. If your church seems stuck on a membership
plateau, consider the possibility that a youth pastor, an associate pastor,
or another staff addition may be precisely what is needed to mobilize energy
and focus on growth.
-
- 4.
Consider a capital funds drive to put your church in top physical condition.
- Perhaps you need a major updating of your church
facilities with a more fuel-efficient furnace, renovated classrooms,
improved handicapped accessibility, remodeled restrooms, and other
improvements. Members will often make special gifts to a capital drive.
-
- 5. Take a
new look at the vision of your church and place a major emphasis on
outreach!
- New energy can come to a congregation when it gains a
clear sense of vision and purpose. Evangelism programs that succeed
generally share these characteristics: (1) They aim at change over at least
a two-year period, recognizing that significant improvement takes time. (2)
They grow out of a renewed sense of vision and mission for the church. (3)
They are focused on concern about the lives of people outside of the church
rather than on the church’s need for more members. The New Life Ministries LIFE process is designed to help a
congregation gain a new sense of mission and outreach.
-
- 6.
Consider the possibility of a merger with another congregation.
- Some churches that have institutional maintenance
problems are in circumstances where growth is not likely to occur. The
church may have been in decline for many years, may be in a location that
has a large number of other churches also seeking new members, and may be
lacking congregational energy for growth. If that is the case, then a merger
with another congregation may be a way for new opportunities for mission to
emerge and for the heritage of your church to be continued. You should have
the help of denominational staff before taking such a step.
-
- 7.
Remember that change takes time.
- Most churches struggling with problems of institutional
maintenance reached that condition over a period of many years or even
decades. Genuine church renewal doesn’t happen overnight. In Overcoming
Barriers to Church Growth, Steve Clapp writes:
-
- There is a general tendency in churches to
overestimate the amount of change that can be accomplished in a single year
and to underestimate the amount of change that can take place in five years.
Resources
Feel free to copy this report and the Institutional
Maintenance Checklist for use in your church. These tools can be very
helpful to church boards, finance committees, and other groups that give
leadership to your congregation.
For more guidance, we especially recommend the following
New Life Ministries resources:
 | The
Desires of Your Heart—Financial Giving and the Spiritual Life
(by Holly Carcione, Steve Clapp, Kristen Leverton Helbert, & Angela
Zimmerman) is based on Christian Community’s extensive research on
financial giving in churches and is filled with practical strategies. |
| The LIFE Process consists of four separate modules
designed to take a congregation through major renewal. It begins with the
development of a meaningful vision for outreach. It then moves on to teach the
congregation how to develop a warm, embracing hospitality; how to share the
faith and reach new people; and how to develop meaningful small groups within
the church. New Life
Ministries staff and denominational staff are available to help your church
in these areas of need. [NOTE: The LIFE process is no longer
available as a process but the individual
modules may be purchased separately] |
| Overcoming
Barriers to Church Growth by Steve Clapp addresses maintenance
issues and other challenges to congregational growth and development. |
| Also see our extensive collection of products and
web-based resources for church growth and
vitality. |
To purchase any of these produces, go to our online
order form or call us toll-free at 1-800-774-3360.
This report is published by New Life Ministries,
a nonprofit corporation, and is mailed without charge to clients and friends
Our partner organization, Christian Community, provides much of the content for
this publication. Persons receiving this publication may reproduce the contents
in local church and regional judicatory bulletins and newsletters. Please
request permission for other reproduction from:
New Life Ministries, 6404 S Calhoun St,
Fort Wayne, IN 46807
Phone: 1-800-774-3360 • E-mail:
NLMServiceCenter@aol.com
Internet: www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org
Other New Life
Ministries Reports • Other Online Resources
Institutional Maintenance • New Life
Ministries Report
|
