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Four Corners to Building |
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Almost everyone is familiar with the media giant CBS. In the Church world there’s another CBS Goliath, called Church Building Stuff. It routinely offers victories, challenges and frustrations. Presently, the property owned by our church has been shaped and formed by earth moving equipment. As the dust settles there remains four corner stakes standing proudly indicating the position of a potential building. In evaluating this process several corner posts arise from our building process:
1) Commitment If the people don’t take ownership then it’s not going to happen. In the infancy stages of proposing to build, the million-dollar question was asked: "How do we know when the people are ready?" The deciding factor for New Hope Wesleyan came down to a stewardship campaign. As CMI guided our church through the campaign, less than thirty giving units committed $380,000 towards our goal. It’s easy to commit certain areas or things but when people give of their resources sacrificially it means only one thing - commitment! People love to talk and dream about building. Why? It doesn’t cost them anything. Ask your people to come to the table with their wallet(s)? If they don’t it’s a sure sign of non-commitment to the project.
2) Timing Psalm 127:1 – “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” It quickly became apparent that our timing and God’s timing were not always synchronized. It’s a very wise move to always follow the Lord’s timing; New Hope has numerous examples of how the Lord came through from obtaining the property deed, to re-zoning, to building permits, to construction. There were several times the church almost packed up the building plans – determined to try again in the future. However, God repeatedly came through at the eleventh hour. Conclusion – ‘Unless the Lord builds… builders labor in vain.’
3) Communication People love information and the quicker they can receive it the better. There is no denying the need for information within society. Millions watched on live television the tragedy of 9/11, the war on Iraq, etc. So why should church life be any different? Leadership at NHWC, including myself, was often guilty of not communicating ideas, plans & goals with the church. Yes, the LBA was in on the take as well as the Building Committee, but what about the rest of the church? There will be lots of battles to fight with municipal and provincial governments, contractors, etc.; there’s no need in having the church battle with the leadership. Take time to cultivate and share the vision with everyone! It’s worth investing time in communication the dividends are huge.
4) Plan Every project needs dreamers & doers. If the dreamers plan you’ll end up with dreams & goals but no finished product. If the doers plan you’ll end up with no plans & a finished product that might be usable. The two sides must work together to complete a project. New Hope has learned some valuable lessons:
In the beginning stages the more contractors & professionals we talked to the more knowledge we obtained and the stronger our plan became. In establishing these four solid corners every building project should finish strong.
In conclusion: The building process continues to be a very positive learning process and should be experienced by Pastors at least once in their ministry. Dare I suggest, the second time around, seek contract tenders! Have a great day, and why not join us for a day or week in constructing our church?
Scott N. Prime |
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