Too often, churches give away space without calculating the actual cost. Or worse, they charge so little that they’re unknowingly subsidizing another organization while their own ministry is struggling to stay afloat.
During the COVID lockdown, when our worship services were all on Zoom and absolutely no one was on campus, we were first mystified, then just flattened, to see how much it cost per month, still, for our buildings just to stand there empty. Sprinklers and lights on timers, low level electricity draws for hundreds of things plugged in, and ... we still don’t know what all it was, but it was a lot! Anyone who’s considering looking into your rental charges might consider going back to look at your COVID lockdown bills. Start there!
and it is so true! Churches are so afraid to 'ask for money', while they are struggling to pay their bills. the buildings are resources that can be shared - creating value for others, and supporting your own ministry.
Can I cautiously note: in my last congregation, I actually did the math, and talked at trustees & board meetings about this. It did not end well. Old guard leaders were profoundly put off by hearing their pastor talk about square foot maintenance & operating costs, and ROI questions about, say, how much time & effort we had the custodian put into facilitating a garden club monthly meeting which was filled with elderly women who were members elsewhere (and I learned on modest investigation they'd been unceremoniously invited to leave not one but two other churches in the last five years before they landed at ours just before I arrived, because they would not pay rental beyond a token $50 as I recall). So there can be a weird reaction to this very reasonable proposition.
During the COVID lockdown, when our worship services were all on Zoom and absolutely no one was on campus, we were first mystified, then just flattened, to see how much it cost per month, still, for our buildings just to stand there empty. Sprinklers and lights on timers, low level electricity draws for hundreds of things plugged in, and ... we still don’t know what all it was, but it was a lot! Anyone who’s considering looking into your rental charges might consider going back to look at your COVID lockdown bills. Start there!
oh, I love this!
and it is so true! Churches are so afraid to 'ask for money', while they are struggling to pay their bills. the buildings are resources that can be shared - creating value for others, and supporting your own ministry.
Can I cautiously note: in my last congregation, I actually did the math, and talked at trustees & board meetings about this. It did not end well. Old guard leaders were profoundly put off by hearing their pastor talk about square foot maintenance & operating costs, and ROI questions about, say, how much time & effort we had the custodian put into facilitating a garden club monthly meeting which was filled with elderly women who were members elsewhere (and I learned on modest investigation they'd been unceremoniously invited to leave not one but two other churches in the last five years before they landed at ours just before I arrived, because they would not pay rental beyond a token $50 as I recall). So there can be a weird reaction to this very reasonable proposition.
Yeah! I imagine some church cultures are much more receptive to this kind of thinking than others!