By Maribeth Westerfield, Building and Capital Services, Chief Advisor
Disciples Church Extension Fund
Over the years, hundreds of Disciples, United Church of Christ and Presbyterian congregations have used the New Beginnings Assessment Service provided by Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation. This service helps congregations assess their strengths and challenges as they seek to redevelop their ministries. Overall, the assessments reveal that, on average, a church is using only about 32 percent of the space they have available on a given Sunday. These same congregations use only about 25 percent of their sanctuary seating capacity and are spending more than a third of their budgets on heating and cooling all of their space—most of which is not used.
With an average sanctuary seating capacity of 248 among New Beginnings churches and their average worship attendance at 54, many of these buildings feel “uncomfortably empty.” Add in deferred maintenance and it seems clear that for many congregations, their church building is hindering rather than helping their ministry.
Listen in on a conversation that might occur in one of the congregations as church leaders are asked to develop a plan to address specific building needs:
“I’m glad that at the last board meeting there was an assignment made for our committee to look into some of our building needs. But, I’m not sure where to start,” remarked Dan.
“I know! Do we start with the fact that our congregation is smaller and we have too much space now in this building OR do we focus on the roof issues OR that parking lot that needs attention,” shared Betty.
“I thought I heard the board talking about some remodeling needs in the kitchen, which will be expensive. And, then there are our restrooms that my Aunt Mable discovered would not easily accommodate her wheelchair when she was here visiting,” Tom added.
Dan summarized, “We have to do something and we have to start somewhere. Is there someone out there we can turn to about all these building issues? Someone who can assess our needs and help us develop a plan we can afford?”
The new Quick Building Inquiry Tool is designed to help focus quickly on your church building needs as you partner with Disciples Church Extension Fund to develop your next steps toward creating a building plan that makes sense for your congregation’s ministry. In just 10 minutes or less, you can complete the no-cost online assessment to begin your journey with church building experts who know how to help congregations with surplus space, unusable space, expensive space or even space that’s in the wrong location. Why journey through your building issues alone?