The Business of the Church by Wimberly John W. Jr.;Wimberly John W Jr.;

Author:Wimberly,, John W., Jr.;Wimberly, John W , Jr.; [John W. Wimberly, Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion
ISBN: 1674110
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Unlimited Model
Published: 2011-07-28T00:00:00+00:00

1. understand the church building and facilities as input systems in need of being managed as such;

2. recognize the importance of personnel, funding maintenance, monitoring costs of utilities and insurance, securing and maintaining desired technology for ministry, and making sure all possible legal issues are addressed responsibly;

3. clarify the role of the trustees or facilities committee.

Facilities Management from a Systems Perspective

If a congregation has the original architectural and construction drawings for the church building, something very important can be seen. There isn’t just one set of blueprints. The average person associates blueprints with the layout of a building. However, there are also blueprints for the foundation, steel/structural support system, electrical and technology wiring, plumbing, landscaping, water management, and other facets of the building. Each set of blueprints represents a system within a system.

When managing a building, in order to understand how things fit together, it is necessary to consider each system (mechanical, electrical, etc.) within the larger system of the overall building. For example, recently at Western, a vandal ripped out an entry-door release panel for the building’s garage door. The panel allows people at the garage entrance to buzz an office so someone there can open the door remotely. What seemed like a simple repair turned out to be a nightmare because of all the different building systems involved in opening the garage door.

First, we discovered that simply replacing the vandalized entry panel in our fourteen-year-old security system wasn’t an option. In the world of security technology, the entry panel was a dinosaur. Since the system was old, it needed old parts—old parts that were no longer available. Once we installed a new master panel, all the intercoms had to be replaced because they were not compatible with the new panel.

Second, the security folks needed to run a new cable, with more capacity for information, outside to the new panel. This involved digging through an area of landscaping that contained an irrigation system and gas line.

Third, after the new panel was installed, the control on the garage door kept shorting out. Each time there was a short, the door opened. We had to involve the door maintenance company and an electrician to solve that issue before the new panel would function properly.

Therefore, an expense that looked reasonable at first became enormous. In order to replace the entry panel, we had to replace the master panel for the entire system, install a new door opener, run new cable, and replace the intercoms—at a cost of more than $20,000.

By the way, we also replaced the vendor. Some companies install proprietary equipment for various major systems. If the system is proprietary, all service and parts must be provided by the company that did the installation—because no other companies sell the parts. Faced with what amounted to an entirely new system, we chose a different vendor who does not install proprietary equipment. The parts are available from multiple sources. If the congregation is ever dissatisfied with the new company’s work, there are numerous other companies in the D.

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