Church Building Campaigns: A to Z_Smart Church Solutions

Table of Contents

Introduction

Church leaders are great at ministry but don’t do building campaigns or projects often enough to become experts. We all need help in this area. This is why XPastor is bringing Church Building Campaigns: A to Z to four cities.  

I recently had the opportunity to connect with David Fletcher, The Dean of Executive Pastors and founder of XPastor. For about 35 years, Fletcher enjoyed a career serving local churches in size from 1,000 to over 8,000.

In these one-day workshops, Fletcher and his team will be administering, leaders can learn from the best in the field of building projects with topics such as:

  1. Get started early on design thoughts. 
  2. Plan in advance for a loan and a generosity campaign. 
  3. Take time to consider the options of a portable church. 
  4. How good planning can save thousands of dollars and avoid a million headaches.

Interview With David Fletcher

For more insight, here are some of the questions Fletcher and I addressed during our conversation:

Question One

Tim—Why are you doing this event?

Fletch—Pastors are great at preaching, leading, and strategizing. Of the hundreds of pastors that I talk to, next to none says, lead building campaigns. Many pastors are great at part of the building process, such as generosity, big picture vision, and knowing the difference between desires and needs. Most pastors just don’t oversee the design, funding, and construction often enough to be an expert.

Question Two

Tim—Who will be speaking?

Fletch—Let me just roll off the amazing list of speakers: architect Bruce Woody on setting a master plan; Chris Lewis on funding the vision; Brad Leeper on generosity campaigns; Frank Barry on technology for giving; Dave Milam on great design elements; Jeff Beachum on portable church options; Dan Mikes on church loans; Tim Cool on the cost of running a new facility; Michael Martin on prudent finances. That is the A to Z of building campaigns!

Question Three

Tim—How qualified are the speakers?

Fletch—These are national leaders who have worked with thousands of churches. They will share the latest trends and tips. They have funded billions of dollars in church loans. You can get into the mind of the one making a loan and the best ways of working with your architect. Learn how to fund the vision. Yes, they have deep wisdom and experience!

Question Four

Tim—what kinds of churches should come?

Fletch—This is designed for churches of all sizes. If a church is thinking of a building or renovation campaign in the next three years, now is the time to begin planning, really. Churches have campus safety issues and congregational growth drives the need for more worship space. Updated teen ministry space is “like totally needed.” Older facilities need renovation with redesigned lobbies, bathrooms, cafés, and more. Visitors feel your church is “out of it” in a stinky bathroom. As some staff may continue to work from home, how much office space do you need?

Question Five

Tim—You talk about expensive mistakes. Can you give an example?

Fletch—I spoke with a church recently that paid $1 million to an architect for plans for a new building. The church later changed its mind about the scope of the building and went back to square one. That’s expensive! You don’t want to over-design what you can’t fund or under-design what your church needs. You don’t want to fail to raise sufficient funds when your congregation could have funded the vision. You don’t want to not get a loan because you didn’t know the lender’s requirements.

Question Six

Tim—How much is the workshop?

Fletch—We are offering a bargain price of $150 per person, plus every third person comes free. This is cheap enough for your team to come! Church leaders should bring a team so they can learn together. Avoid countless headaches with early and good planning.

Question Seven

Tim—Okay, I’m sold on this. What are the locations?

Fletch—Our four locations for the 9 am to 4 pm workshop are:

  • Dallas—August 19
  • Orlando—August 26
  • Chicago—September 2
  • Oahu—November 4

Conclusion

What a great learning opportunity and opportunity to steward the process of facility development and long-term facility stewardship. Remember, facility stewardship includes the intentional planning of our facilities.

P.S. I am not sure about you, but I think the November 4 conference date deserves a much closer look!

Tim Cool
Chief Executive Officer
Tim Cool is the founder of Smart Church Solutions and takes great pride in helping churches optimize their facilities. When he’s not at the helm of his company, he’s dedicated to his family, being a husband to Lisa and a father to 27-year-old triplets. An enthusiast of the outdoors, Tim enjoys the simplicity of hiking in the North Carolina mountains.
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