Church Facility Management Solutions

Of the nearly 350,000 church facilities in America only a small fraction have a full-time skilled facility manager.  Even less have proactive plans or tools for maintenance and management. To remedy this situation, Tim Cool, founder of Cool Solutions Group, has created Church Facility Management Solutions. This is a community of church facility practitioners, professionals, volunteers, paid staff, pastors, deacons, trustees and nearly every type of church personnel. 

Church Facility Management Solutions is an online membership community.  Member benefits include:

1. Weekly Information sent directly to you to help you be proactive and intentional with the care of your facility.
2. Online Community so that you can get input and feedback from hundreds of other church and facility leaders.
3. Monthly Webinars by industry professionals to provide relevant information and resources for your church facility management.
4. Vetted Vendors have a list of qualified vendors at your fingertips with the assurance that they have been pre-qualified by our team…and they do not pay to be on this list!
5. Free Resources will be developed and made available to members including worksheet, forms, policy docs, job descriptions, and more! 
6. Availability to Consulting and Training Services.

Church Facility Management Solutions is committed to providing the best and most timely information to church facility stewards across the nation, and is THE resource for your intentional facility stewardship.

What's your facilities S.C.O.P.E.?

Though I have conducted, and written about, extensive risk assessment processes, there are times and situations when a less extensive assessment may be more efficient. While our assessment process provides a detailed picture of a facility, sometimes an overhead, big picture, view is all that is needed.

Utilizing the S.C.O.P.E. acronym a facilities' features and risk can be quickly assessed.  The S.C.O.P.E. sheet is provides a one page overview of a particular building or structure.

Statement of activities

Provide a general narrative of the type of work and activities that are conducted within the structure or facility.

Construction type

Select the construction type as defined in NFPA 220.

Occupancy

Select the occupancy type and calculate the occupant load of the building.

Protection

This space identifies what fire protection and detection systems are in place.

Exposures

The section outlines what is located on the surrounding sides of the building being assessed that may be impacted by a fire. This should also take into account how a fire in an exposure would affect the building being assessed.

Download the S.C.O.P.E. assessment worksheet

Why church safety matters?

In Why Church Buildings Matter, Tim Cool writes:

The condition of your facility will speak volumes to guests.  It will communicate what the church values, which may be an indicator of how a guest may be treated as well.  As a guest to dozens of church facilities a year, the condition of the space and campus are first clue indicators to me as to what is important to that congregation or the leadership.  While it may not always be indicative of the desired culture, vision, and mission of the church, it is an indicator that will influence my overall impression.

Does your facility value a culture of protection, safety, and stewardship?  Are your fire protection systems properly installed and maintained? Are emergency plans in place? Can guest rest assured that your worship facility is truly a place of sanctuary?

Fire Safe Worship Space

Is it important for churches to consider fire protection, life safety, and security?  With the recent rise in church shooting incidents, church arson occurrences, structural failures, and other house of worship related incidents, many congregations are starting to debate the merits of physical protection for their facility.  

The members of a church and community have the expectation that the church building, worship facility, will truly be a place of sanctuary.  Being a place of safety and refuge requires three principles: - shepherding, standing, stewardship.

Shepherding. Shepherding is spoken of all throughout scripture.  The Lord is our Shepherd, pastors act as a shepherd, congregations are referred to as a flock.  With the title of ‘shepherd’ comes a certain set of responsibilities.  These responsibilities include:

• Eliminating fear in dark and anxious times.
• Guarding and watching over the flock.
• Keeping the flock safe.
• Restoring, reviving, and refreshing the flock.

In an environment that neglects safety and security features, it is not possible for the shepherd to fulfill his duties.  

Standing.  Many places of worship serve as a beacon of hope and light within their community  It only takes one fire incident, loss of life occurrence, or structural failure for this light to diminish. If the incident results in the destruction of the facility, physically this beacon is snuffed out. If these incidents are a result of negligence or carelessness, hopes are dashed, trust is lost, and the church’s impact in the community will suffer.

Stewardship. The church facility and ministry has been built on the faithful and generous giving of the congregation members.  It is the church’s responsibility to properly care for, steward, what has been received.  Proportionately, the amount of funds that go to support the facility and personnel, should be invested in the care and maintenance of the same.

The guidance provided in this short document provides a good starting point for the effective stewarding of resources, shepherding of the flock, and maintaining right standing within your community.