Home dwellers know about the preliminary decision-making that goes into the repair and renovation of a home: Is this home even right for us? Is it in a place that is the right fit? Does it still speak to our family’s future goals and direction? Should we even invest in its repair or renovation, or are our resources better spent elsewhere? And, if we decide to invest in the former, where do we start?
It’s much the same for churches. Swope Parkway United Christian Church in Kansas City, Mo., began asking some of these questions a few years ago, and decided that with a growing congregation and a call to mission in their neighborhood, particularly to serve young single mothers, the congregation wanted to continue their ministry out of their current building. They knew, however, that their Holy Place needed work, and that they needed assistance with creating and prioritizing their building “to-do” list.
Enter Disciples Church Extension Fund’s Jim Michel, who conducted DCEF’s new Building Evaluation service for the congregation. With his extensive background in facilities and construction management, Jim visited the church to inspect it from crawl space to steeple, inside and out. He assessed the condition of Swope Parkway’s facilities and presented a comprehensive report to the congregation’s leaders and building team via conference call that included a recommended plan to address the building’s condition and maintenance, starting with mold and furnace emission issues. By prioritizing Swope Parkway’s deferred maintenance needs, the Building Evaluation service helped the congregation clarify how and where to use their resources to fit their vision for space use going forward, including perhaps replacing unusable space with new space better designed for their growing ministry.
“We became aware of the Building Evaluation service at a perfect time for our church,” says Rev. Dr. Rodney Williams. “Disciples Church Extension Fund was able to help us organize our repair needs, so we could begin to tackle the tasks in the right order for our church’s future.”
Says Jim of DCEF’s partnership with Swope Parkway United Christian Church,
“I truly enjoyed working with their great team of people, who care about their congregation and the community, and am pleased that we were able to help them get started in addressing some pretty pressing building needs.”
To date, Jim and five facilities contractors have delivered DCEF’s Building Evaluation service to eight congregations, with three more already on the schedule for 2016. For more information about the service, email Jim Michel at jmichel@disciplescef.org or request a consultation.