The Story of Quarry

Bill Couchenour | Monday, August 29, 2011

Quarry Community Church is bringing the hope and compassion of the Gospel to Monticello, MN, about an hour northwest of Minneapolis. Lead Pastor, Michael Grose, and his team are doing a great work for Jesus. You get a glimpse of what they stand for with the analogy they use of a “quarry” (click here for the full Story of the Quarry):

The quarry is a place where you seek to find rocks.
The church is a place where you seek to find lost people.

The quarry is a place where rocks are formed, shaped and hewn for a specific purpose.
The church is a place where new believers in Jesus Christ are mentored and discipled to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

The quarry is a place where rocks are sent out to build something outside the walls of the quarry.
The church is a place where people are built up to be sent out and minister wherever God has called them.

The church is in the process of purchasing a building owned by the city. It was originally built as a bowling alley and over the last several years has fallen into disrepair. We are working with them to renovate this facility to develop needed ministry space and I had a chance to visit them, personally. We’re right at the crux of discerning vision, determining priorities and developing financial plans. It is always thrilling for me when I can be close enough to the vision to feel it.

I love this part because this is the very heart of what we do. The facilities are only tools for ministry but, because of the size of the capital expenditures, the facility decisions are critical. And I am more convinced than ever that bringing the right team into the room with the right process from the beginning results in the best facility decisions for church construction or renovation. I see this approach imitated by many under a variety of names but the “right team” and the “right process” are difficult to duplicate.

Please pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Monticello and the surrounding area.
May God use Quarry CC in a powerful way!

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4th of July Surprises from the NACBA in DC

Bill Couchenour | Monday, July 11, 2011

Last week I (along with my brother, Jim) had the privilege of speaking at the 55th National Conference for the National Association of Church Business Administrators (NACBA). The title of our session was (not so surprisingly) “Developing Compelling Ministry Facilities.” The conference was being held over the 4th of July weekend to take advantage of being in Washington DC for Independence Day. The NACBA always does a wonderful job administrating their conferences at fantastic places so we were excited to be included.

We had a good feel for our session but there were a few surprises:

- Given our time slot of 2:45 to 4:30 on the afternoon on the 4th of July, Jim and I wondered if we’d be the only two in the room. Yet nearly 60 showed up on Independence Day – in the Nation’s Capitol! It just goes to show that church business administrators are committed to learning for certification, needed information for an impending expansion project, or both.

- During the course of our seminar I asked how many people were suffering with facilities that weren’t well designed for their ministry needs. I thought there would be a few, maybe even 25%. However, I did not expect that nearly everyone would respond, some with emotion, and I didn’t notice anyone that didn’t raise their hand. We tend to quantify the cost of buildings in dollars and cents but there can be an even greater cost when the facilities do not match the ministry.

- After spending the entire 1 hour and 45 minutes together, I was surprised by how many people wanted to spend more time together discussing the subject. We spent another half hour together with some of the attendees. These people were engaged!

- The final surprise was more of a reminder since I had known it before. I knew as business administrators the nuts and bolts of an expansion project would resonate with them. You would expect subjects like project delivery methods, committee structures, financial guidelines, timelines, etc to be a natural for them – it’s what they deal with every day. What you might not expect is that the ministry perspective resonates with them even more. They want facilities that are energy efficient and easy to manage but they get the fact that’s worthless if the facility isn’t impacting ministry.

If you are a business administrator and aren’t a NACBA member, we highly recommend them. If you are a facilities manager, here’s another great organization: National Association of Church Facilities Managers (NACFM).

Always remember: It’s never about the buildings – it’s about the ministry!

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A Strategy for Golf and Church Facilities

Bill Couchenour | Monday, June 13, 2011

In a recent conversation with one of our guys (Richard Chancy), he suggested that churches should consider a strategy for planning facilities that comes from golf:

“A conservative approach and
A cocky swing”

I like that in this context – Almost universally, the vision for a given church will exceed what they can afford in facilities to accomplish that vision. I don’t think that’s a bad thing – our vision should outpace what we can physically realize at this point in time. However, from time to time, a church leader will leverage that desire to plan facilities well beyond what they can conceivably afford. The rallying cry in that situation is usually, “You need to have faith!” True, but when does faith become presumption?

God has ordered the physical world according to laws and relationships. On some occasions, He will act miraculously in a way that goes against those laws and relationships. Gravity is one of those laws that impacts us every day. If I contemplate jumping off a 10 story building, there’s no doubt in my mind that God can save me. There is also no doubt in my mind that, if He doesn’t, I’m a pancake. So, before I jump off that building, I want to make very sure I have heard from God and I am acting out of faith, not presumption.

The financial world, likewise, is ordered by laws and relationships. If you spend more money than you take in, you go broke - it’s just math (and God made math). There are a number of dangers associated with designing a facility beyond what the church can afford. First, the lost time and lost momentum can take a toll on a church, and you spend more money in the design and subsequent re-design. And there are extra costs for other reasons, including inflation, to consider. Per the ENR (Engineering News Record Index), the inflation in the construction industry over the past year has been 3.63% which means it will conceivably cost a church with a $4,000,000 project over $12,000/month for every month of delay. Also a 50,000 sq. ft. facility that was cut down from 75,000 sq. ft. is different, and probably not as effective, as a facility that was originally designed for 50,000 sq. ft. There can be other dangers, but perhaps the worst is when the project dies, and the physical limitations and/or the turmoil created by the failed program thwarts the growth of the church.

Please understand that I’m not saying you shouldn’t think big. On the contrary, I want you to DREAM BIG!!! I’m only suggesting that you consider the cost when it comes to the needed facilities for your next phase. If God provides the funding in a miraculous way, it is more desirable to scale up than to cut back. Over the years we have been introduced to hundreds of church construction projects that have stalled or died because they over estimated what they could afford or under estimated the cost. The result can be devastating. Here’s a good faith/presumption test: ask yourself, “Am I willing to put everything I own, personally, as collateral for this project?” If the answer is , “Yes”, then perhaps it is faith. If the answer is “No”, it’s more likely presumption, so take a conservative approach and then a cocky swing.

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