Category: Facility
November 3, 2011Eight Tips for Securing Church Property
Don’t let burglars get the best of your ministry.
Since June, two men in Texas have burglarized multiple churches in a bold way: They visit the churches during daytime hours to steal credit cards and employees’ wallets.
In one instance, they tricked a church employee by creating a distraction. Father Dean Lawrence, pastor of the targeted church, said one of the men walked through the front door inquiring about child care, while the other came through one of the side doors asking about work. Using the diversion, one of the men took the employee’s wallet out of her purse.
"We probably should be more diligent about making sure things are under lock and key," Lawrence told Click2Houston.com.
These burglaries serve as a good reminder for churches to secure their buildings. While it may prove difficult to stop someone with dishonest intentions from walking into your church building during the day, there are steps your church can take to protect the building and your employees throughout the week. Below are eight tips from ChurchSafety.com that can help you control access to your property and deter criminals.
Continue reading "Eight Tips for Securing Church Property" »
New Crib Regulations Affect Churches
What ministries should note about changing federal rules.
New federal regulations for cribs could lead to substantial penalties and civil lawsuits that may implicate not only your church, but also your church board. It's important your church understands these new regulations and follows them closely to avoid creating a liability for the church. Here are three resources to help you do that:
- Securing Cribs in Your Church's Nursery, Richard Hammar's Feature Report on the topic;
- A Clean and Healthy Nursery, a training resource from ChurchSafety.com;
- Rich's video below on the same topic:
Watch the video, and then visit YourChurchResources.com to download the Feature Report.
Pastors Shot in Florida Church
Church shooting reminds us to create procedures to help protect our staff and parishioners.
This Sunday, a Florida man shot and killed his wife before entering a church a block away. Inside the church, the shooter identified the senior pastor and shot him in the head. He then shot the associate pastor three times, according to WTSP.com, a Tampa news station. Other church members tackled the shooter and held him until authorities arrived.
Sheriff Grady Judd, who was interviewed about the incident, called the intervening parishioners heroes for stepping in like they did. Unfortunately, these parishioners had to react to a horrific and unexpected situation. "If there's one place that you should be able to go on Sunday and worship safely and securely, it should be your church or your synagogue," Judd said. "And, unfortunately, that wasn't the case here this morning."
Judd’s words ring true for all churches. We want our church buildings to be dependably safe and secure. If you haven’t already established policies and procedures for dealing with violence in your church, get started with some helpful resources from ChurchSafety.com. Begin with the free assessment “Is Our Church Secure from Crime and Violence?” then read through the accompanying article “Preparing for the Unthinkable.” If you want additional training on this subject, look to any of the following to help guide your team: Protect Your Church from Crime & Violence, Confronting Gun Violence at Church, and Creating a Safety Team.
Lindsey Learn is assistant editor to the Church Management Team at Christianity Today International.
A Good Time to Launch a Church Building Campaign?
Advice on expensive church projects in a time of economic turmoil.
Editor’s note: Churches continue to consider new building projects, even as the economy remains challenging. Church Finance Today recently created a new training resource to help churches navigate this difficult time of fundraising during a down economy. This interview was excerpted from that resource:
Church congregation growth may run on God's timing, not the economy's. The ability to deal with that growth, though, is more dependent on earthly funds, and the dollars in a church budget may be fewer when members are losing jobs and savings.
So what happens to church growth campaigns when the economy is going downhill?
Bill Walter is president of Church Growth Services, an organization that helps churches plan capital campaigns for building and growth projects. Walter has been in the business for over 30 years and offers a historical perspective on what seems to be the current recession and how it could affect churches.
Continue reading "A Good Time to Launch a Church Building Campaign?" »
When Someone Disrupts the Church Service
How to respond to a disruptive—and possibly dangerous—person.
The feature article this week on ChurchLawAndTax.com, a sister site of ours, looks at the delicate balance between ministry and safety. In "Dealing with Dangerous People," we go deeper into how church staff and lay leaders should approach an individual who may pose a threat to the church.
The article is timely for a number of reasons, including an incident last week in which an intoxicated man disrupted a church service in Louisville, Kentucky.
The types of threats addressed in the ChurchLawAndTax.com article include:
Continue reading "When Someone Disrupts the Church Service" »
Church Giving Begins to Rebound?
6 in 10 churches held—or gained—ground in 2010.
Since the recession in 2008, many U.S. churches have seen a decline in giving. But the tide may be changing. The third annual State of the Plate constituency survey of 1,507 churches revealed that 43% of these churches experienced an uptick in giving this past year (up from 36% the previous year). Overall, 6 in 10 churches reported giving that was flat or up in 2010—encouraging results given the nation’s stalled economy.
Smaller churches (under 249 people in worship attendance) saw giving declines (40% in churches under 100 people and 43% in churches with 100-249 people). Giving dipped most in Southeast states, rather than among Pacific Coast states as it did in previous years.
When the Bank Says No
The first "no" is not the end.
Rejection is no fun under any circumstance. It can be especially disheartening for a church when a lender rejects its initial loan application for a capital construction project. But the first "no" does not necessarily doom your chances to finish the project. Your church can pursue another lender, adjust the project, improve its financial situation, or a combination of the three.
Lenders will refuse a church's loan proposal in more subtle ways than an outright "no." Instead, a lender might reduce the amount it is willing to offer. In other scenarios, the lender has more clear reasons for the rejection, and the unsuccessful church should ask for reasons why.
"Listen. As that lender is telling you no, they are really saying 'not that way' or 'not now' or 'not that much.' If you can hear them out, they will usually give you some clues about what to do next so that your future request might be approved," says David Van Winkle, vice president of sales for the Evangelical Christian Credit Union.
The Fall-Out from 'Natural Decrease'
How the economy, and dying counties, may hamper church-building plans.
Editor's Update (4/26/2011):The Nonprofit Quarterly pointed this morning to a Boston Globe article reporting 40 of the city's largest nonprofits, with property valued at $15 million or more each, have received letters from the city "requesting them to make regular and voluntary tax payments based on the value of their holdings.
"Boston is not alone is seeking to raise revenues from nonprofits ... In Boston, nonprofits are especially tempting targets, because as the Globe notes, they own about 52 percent of the city’s land area," the Nonprofit Quarterly continues. "Under the new plan payments would rise from $15 million, which they paid this year, to $48 million over the next five years."
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Editor's Update (4/4/2011): The Nonprofit Quarterly pointed this morning to a Times-Picayune article covering the recommendations of a mayor-appointed "Tax Fairness Commission" in New Orleans. One of the three recommendations:
"...changes to the state’s constitution that would allow cities statewide to collect taxes from nonprofits as part of a larger effort to bring in more revenue from untaxed property ...
... If adopted by lawmakers and voters statewide, the most sweeping of those changes, according to The Times-Picayune, “would allow local governments to collect taxes on as much as half the assessed value of properties that long have paid nothing because their educational, religious, cultural, fraternal or other missions qualify them for exemptions.”
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Up until last week, there's a good chance most people hadn't heard of "natural decrease." But newly released U.S. Census data reveal a near-record number of counties in the country are dying, and the term describing the phenomenon has quickly gone mainstream.
The Associated Press reports:
"In all, roughly 760 of the nation's 3,142 counties are fading away, stretching from industrial areas near Pittsburgh and Cleveland to the vineyards outside San Francisco to the rural areas of east Texas and the Great Plains. Once-booming housing areas, such as retirement communities in Florida, have not been immune.
West Virginia was the first to experience natural decrease statewide over the last decade, with Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont close to following suit, according to the latest census figures. As a nation, the U.S. population grew by just 9.7 percent since 2000, the lowest decennial rate since the Great Depression."
What's the significance for church leaders? Well, beyond the obvious ministerial needs and challenges that churches located in dying counties can help meet, there's another separate-but-significant connection. The AP says two primary reasons for "natural decrease" are an aging population and a poor economy.
It's the second reason that church leaders should especially note. As municipalities--dying or not--continue to struggle with shrinking tax revenues, and aggressively look for ways to survive, churches and nonprofits will only find it tougher to avoid taxes and tougher zoning restrictions.
A year ago, we saw the question of taxing churches unfold publicly in places like Utah, Ohio, and Indiana.
On the zoning front, challenges with ordinances appears, as one attorney puts it, to be "heating up" for churches because of the economy (and that's saying something--zoning issues are already one of the top five reasons churches go to court each year).
TheYourChurchBlog.com's Top 5 Posts of 2010
The key law, tax, finance, and safety issues readers cared about this year.
Last week, we took a moment to highlight the Top 10 most-read articles from Your Church magazine's website, YourChurch.net. As we continue to count down the days to 2011, we now offer the Top 5 most-read posts from TheYourChurchBlog.com during 2010:
5. Should Pastors Know What People Give? This post--which generated a high number of comments--raised the question based on how three different churches say they address it.
4. A New Tool for Calculating Church Staff Salaries. Personnel expenses make up a significant portion of church budgets--sometimes 50 percent or more. As a companion tool to our 2010-2011 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, we developed a free worksheet that actually walks church leaders through the process of determining a fair pay range for each pastoral and staff position at their churches.
Continue reading "TheYourChurchBlog.com's Top 5 Posts of 2010" »
10 to Remember From 2010
These Your Church Today articles drew the most traffic.
As 2010 comes to a close, it’s time to get all nostalgic and look back at the year that was. That includes reviewing the articles that interested readers throughout the year. Based on Internet traffic patterns, these 10 articles from YourChurch.net (Your Church Today magazine’s website) led the way:
10. Is My Church Covered? We noticed many church leaders seemed to be taking a hard look at their church insurance policies, their premiums, and any possible savings they could make in light of tightened budgets. Our Summer 2010 cover story reviewed the changing landscape of church insurance, including key coverage changes to note, terms to know, and a brief look at the biggest church insurance providers.
9. State of the Plate Results A detailed look at the results from the 2010 State of the Plate survey, which Christianity Today International conducted with Maximum Generosity to see how 2009 ended for American churches. Among the findings: More churches missed their budgets in 2009 compared to 2008.
8. Debunking the Clergification Myth Respected author and researcher Ed Stetzer examines the prevailing models of church staffing structures and argues for changes that place less emphasis on paid staff and more emphasis on an empowered lay leadership base.
Finding Grants for Church Building Campaigns
Churches that serve the community may be eligible for outside funds.
Are there corporate or foundation grants available to fund your church building campaign?
There may be, depending on who you serve and how church facilities are used. Your best chance of securing this kind of funding is if your congregation is building or renovating spaces that are (or will be) primarily used for community ministry programs serving people from the larger community. These spaces are often multi-purpose—used by your church members on Sunday for spiritual formation classes or Sunday school, then used during the week, for example, for after-school programs or a health clinic.
Grants like this don't replace the need for individuals in your church to support your building campaign. Grants might make up a third or less of total campaign support. Often, it is the last funding received—like the "frosting on the cake." Most grants like this are local, so identify funders that give in your city or state to find ones that fit. Look for the grantmakers association in your state (at http://givingforum.org)—many of these groups produce indexes of grant opportunities by state or region. You will need to look at funders that make "capital grants" and that give in the program areas in which your church works (health, education, job training, and so on).
Some possible scenarios for capital grants:
Continue reading "Finding Grants for Church Building Campaigns" »
ChurchSafety.com’s Top 10 Training Resources
What other church leaders are reading and using to keep their congregations safe.
ChurchSafety.com provides expert guidance and risk management information on a broad range of safety topics. We’ve compiled the Top 10 most-downloaded resources from ChurchSafety.com during the past year. Find out what other church leaders have read and used to train staff and volunteers and to develop a safe environment for ministry:
10. Confronting Gun Violence at Church
While the number of incidents involving guns at churches remains small, information and preparation are still vital. Begin by assessing the current security of your church. This download gives helpful advice on how to plan for the unexpected, whether or not your church should hire a security guard, and how to deal with the media in the aftermath of violence.
Children are often the most vulnerable members of our congregations, and their presence also presents some of the most serious liability risks. Most churches use minors to assist in various children's or youth programs. Screening these workers will help prevent youth-peer sexual harassment. Institutions can be found guilty of negligence in these cases for not providing security against such abuse. Learn practical steps to properly screen underage workers and access helpful templates for references and interviews.
8. Creating a Safety Team
When crisis arises, are you prepared? Don’t be taken by surprise next time. Learn to respond appropriately to situations ranging from common medical emergencies to crisis involving gunfire. Every church can benefit from forming a safety team that is trained to respond appropriately to various emergencies. This download will discuss the importance of having a team that can handle situations requiring security intervention, medical response, or evacuation.
Continue reading "ChurchSafety.com’s Top 10 Training Resources" »
The Your Church Blog's Top 10 Posts from Its First Year
The topics that most interested readers like you during the past year.
I love milestones. And I'm a sucker for top 10 lists (thank you very much, David Letterman). Since today is August 26, it means the TheYourChurchBlog.com turns 1. Naturally, I went back and looked at our 10 most popular posts for the first year.
But before I do, a few observations about our past year:
1. Subject popularity appears diverse: 3 of the Top 10 posts fall under the Law Category, with 2 each under Finance and Safety, and 1 each under Staff and Office (the other post was a general one and didn't fall under one specific category);
2. Our highest traffic day came on February 23, on the heels of our post "Oregon Case Provides a Powerful Reminder to Churches," which reviews the implications of an appeals court's ruling that allowed a pastor's victory in a defamation lawsuit against his former church to stand.
3. The post garnering the most comments was "Where You Work Best," which discusses the pros and cons of worshipping at the church where you also work.
Without further delay, here are TheYourChurchBlog.com's Top 10 posts during its first year:
10. Legally Host a Super Bowl Party: If your church is hosting a Super Bowl party this year, you will need to abide by three simple guidelines to avoid violating copyright law ... read more
9. The Top 7 Resources to Combat Church Embezzlement: Earlier this month, we looked at two recent cases of church embezzlement, and the "zero tolerance" stance judges are starting to take against these crimes. Unfortunately, yet another big headline has since emerged ... read more
8. 10 Questions to Ask About Your Church's Communication: As you approach 2010, consider these 10 questions to discuss your church’s communication efforts ... read more
7. What Will the New Health Care Bill Mean for Churches?: Now that President Obama has signed the health care reform bill into law, many churches are wondering what the impact will be on staffing costs. ... read more
Continue reading "The Your Church Blog's Top 10 Posts from Its First Year" »
Top 10 Things Churches Need to Know About Zoning
A zoning attorney offers helpful information before you buy or build your next church facility.
Editor's note: Church law expert Richard Hammar says zoning is one of the Top 5 issues to land a church in court. To learn more about church property and zoning laws, check out Richard's Volume 2 of "Pastor, Church, & Law, 4th Edition."
Below are 10 things your church should know about zoning:
1. Zoning laws can prevent your congregation (whether by lease or purchase) from using land or buildings in many areas. They can also prevent you from expanding current facilities.
2. Include a "zoning contingency clause" in any real estate contract to protect your congregation from a financial loss if permission to rezone the property is not obtained by authorities.
3. Check zoning laws in advance. If you plan to purchase land or expand your present facilities, check with municipal officials before you shop.
Continue reading this article at LeadershipJournal.net, the website for our sister publication Leadership journal, where the article first appeared. Click here for a free trial issue.
Responding to Floods and Other Disasters
Tips and resources as flooding hits the Southeast.
As the death toll rises to 18 in the aftermath of the flooding in Tennessee, the water is slowly starting to recede. Many residents are returning to their homes to find damaged possessions and property. Churches are also dealing with the repercussions of the flash flood; many have been forced to reconvene in alternative meeting areas.
The Your Church Blog has compiled a number of resources from our family of sites at Christianity Today International that are available to help affected churches. These resources also are useful for any churches in other parts of the country who are reminded of their needs to plan and prepare for a possible future disaster situation like this one.
Below is a free article from a ChurchSafety.com download, "Serving as a Disaster Relief Team." This article provides simple, effective tips before a church begins to respond to an affected community. Following the article is a list of other resources that can help.
Continue reading "Responding to Floods and Other Disasters" »
How Finance, Sexual Wrongdoings Challenged One Church
A pastor's worst nightmare leads to a new beginning.
My lawyer said, "Just follow my lead and answer the questions he asks, and everything will be okay." I clung to his advice as I entered the smartly decorated boardroom lined with towering bookshelves. The first thing I noticed was the videographer and stenographer setting up their equipment. Then the opposing counsel, who to me represented evil incarnate, walked into the room.
"Please state your full name for the record." His tone and mannerisms suggested this was strictly routine. For the others in the room, this was just another work day. They pushed buttons on the camera, they typed on the stenograph machine, they served coffee, they represented their clients—this was a 9-5 job for everyone in the room. Everyone, that is, except me.
I cleared my throat and said, "Ralph Webster Neighbour III."
"I am sure your lawyer has explained to you the deposition process, but let me explain it again for the record …"
There was that phrase again—"for the record." I thought: This is high stakes. The church's reputation and my future are on the line here! I also knew this deposition was just the beginning; we would walk at least another year through this legal maze.
I couldn't believe this was happening to me—a seventh generation pastor. But here I was, giving a deposition in a sexual misconduct lawsuit. This was not what I signed up for!
This article first appeared in Leadership journal. The full version is available at LeadershipJournal.net. For additional resources on embezzlement and sexual misconduct issues for churches, please visit:
- Secure Your Church Finances
- The Essential Guide to Church Finances
- Sexual Harassment in Your Church
- Boundaries for Healthy Church Relationships
- Child Sexual Abuse Response Plan
- Safe Mentoring Relationships
- Reducing the Risk, a child abuse prevention training program for church leaders.
The Top 10 Church Administration Posts for '09
A look at the hottest topics facing pastors and administrators.
As 2009 draws to a close, here's a fun look back at the year's 10 most-read posts on TheYourChurchBlog.com. Doing this kind of review often helps us understand the most pressing issues facing church administrators, executive pastors, pastors, and leaders.
And, it's a nice way to showcase topics that you may have missed the first time around.
Here's the Top 10:
10. How to Interview Your Next Church
9. Report: Giving Steady at Two-Thirds of Churches
7. Free Excerpt: The Essential Guide to Church Finances
6. 5 Leadership Books Worth Reading
Continue reading "The Top 10 Church Administration Posts for '09" »
Church Budgets: How Much for Staff, Buildings, and Ministry?
An executive pastor suggests a different analysis of expenses.
Paul Clark, one of Your Church's contributing editors, wrote an interesting post this week on his blog. Paul is an executive pastor who at one time spent several years in a managerial role with General Electric. His business background gives him an interesting perspective on how churches operate.
This week, Paul challenges three common questions often asked among church administrators: What percentage of a church's budget should go toward personnel expenses? Facilities? Ministries?
He writes:
"Those are great questions, but they are a bit narrow in their scope. The reality is that a church budget is a reflection of the overall strategy and focus of the church in a given calendar year. That focus can change from year to year and consequently, the budget percentages will change accordingly."
Paul then illustrates what he means, making the case for projecting expenses further into the future to truly understand overall budget ramifications.
Earlier this year, Your Church did a comprehensive survey with church leaders regarding church budget priorities.
The average breakdown in expenses for church operating budgets, based on responses from 1,168 church leaders:
- 38% toward salaries and wages
- 12% toward buildings/facilities
- 8% toward utilities
- 7% toward ministries and support
Our survey participants mostly hail from small- to mid-sized churches; organizations like NACBA and Leadership Network, both of which typically survey larger churches, report salaries and wages, on average, take up 45% to 50% of church operating budgets.
Like Paul asks, how does your church assess these expenses, and how those expenses reflect--or don't reflect--the church's direction now and in the future? Is an analysis like Paul proposes more instructive for current and future church budget planning?
Top 5 Reasons Churches Wind Up in Court
Current legal trends that can help your church assess its vulnerabilities.
For many years, I've closely reviewed litigation involving churches to identify patterns that pastors and leaders can use to assess their own risks and potential vulnerabilities. In 2008, the following five types of cases brought churches to court more than any others:
1. Sexual Abuse of a Minor (15 percent of cases). Sadly, this type of case is typically the No. 1 or No. 2 reason churches wind up in court every year.
2. Property Disputes (13 percent of cases).
3. Zoning (10 percent of cases).
4. Personal Injury (9 percent of cases). This is a Top 4 issue every year.
5. Tax (7 percent of cases).
Based on this ongoing analysis, churches should note the following major risk categories they face and work to evaluate (and to minimize) their own risks:
Continue reading "Top 5 Reasons Churches Wind Up in Court" »
Simple Tips to Prepare for a Pandemic
Guidance for churches as the H1N1 virus spreads.
As a ministry leader, you may be wondering what you can do to keep your congregation healthy. Here are some important steps you can take to reduce the spread of the flu within your own faith community.
Read through the tips below, then take our free online assessment to see if your church is ready to communicate to staff and congregants during a pandemic.
From there, check out our electronic training resource, "Preparing Your Church for a Pandemic," on ChurchSafety.com.
Facing a Financial Crisis: Three Experts Weigh In
Is your church struggling with a mortgage? Some tips on how to act—now.
A headline I read earlier this week from the newswire service United Press International gave me pause: “More Churches Face Foreclosure.” Upon reading the piece, I quickly understood why: While the rate of foreclosed church properties continues to climb, thanks partly to some widely publicized defaults in Naples, Florida, and Temple Hills, Maryland, among others, the overall number remains small.
As the article points out:
“The scope of the problem is difficult to measure. Most of America’s 335,000 churches are well established, building costs paid off long ago. The situation among a minority of congregations, however, is certainly worse than it was last March, when the New York Times found that 0.31 percent of the 82,441 churches it studied were facing foreclosure.”
Not many can say 2009 delivered a banner year, but these types of headlines suggest a widespread financial problem among churches, which just isn’t the case. (As Dan Mikes from Bank of the West pointed out to me, his division has $1.3 billion in direct church loan exposure “without a single delinquency, loss, or foreclosure.”)
Nevertheless, these headlines remind me that some churches are struggling with how to make a mortgage payment. To help, we asked three lenders to tell us what churches facing a financial crisis should do if they aren’t able to make mortgage payments. Here are their responses.
Continue reading "Facing a Financial Crisis: Three Experts Weigh In" »
Church Shootings in the Spotlight
Continued coverage shows need for planning, preparation.
The Post’s piece recounts several recent, high-profile shooting incidents, including one that took place in February, when a man arrived at a Maryland church’s Sunday services toting a Bible and .38 caliber revolver, confronted his estranged wife in the parking lot, and shot her five times. She died on the scene. He recently received a life prison sentence.
The article makes two interesting observations:
High Tech, Low Budget
How one rural pastor uses technology without spending a lot.
In ministry, one can define stewardship as “maximizing the impact of every dollar.” In this economy, this definition takes on even greater meaning. And as the pastor of a small rural church, I have experienced this reality firsthand. Yet, even with added financial difficulties, I cannot forget that the above definition still includes the word “impact.” Our spending, regardless the amount, must make a difference.
One area often caught between stewardship and impact is technology. In my church, I have found that a little bit of technology goes a long way. Yet, the cost presents a formidable challenge to our budget. Unwilling to forgo the impact, I have tried to find creative ways to add technology without adding the typical high costs. Though not profound, the result of my efforts is five effective ideas for becoming high tech on a low budget.
The 2010 Wish-List
Five purchases churches might budget for this fall to buy next year.
Despite the lingering effects of the current economic maelstrom, next year’s church budget will soon become reality, and the need to disperse funds will be here.
Since a church budget should be assembled and managed wisely, it helps to know where trends are headed and how they affect resource effectiveness. For example, spending money on digital signs in the lobby may be a better investment than upgrading the paper quality of the bulletin, since many people have become acclimated to information video displays in airports and shopping malls and often prefer to receive data digitally.
Technology trends, then, give at least a general course directive on how to allocate funds and, while not a panacea, provide a useful tool in the service of worship when appropriately applied.
Here, then, are five current developments your church may find helpful as it considers purchases and next year’s budget:
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