A Conundrum Involving a Church Nursery

Let’s set the stage.

There is a church congregation of about 400 people.  There are about 200 adults, and about 200 children ranging in age from newborn to late teens. This congregation has been blessed with a decent sized piece of property that is fully paid off.

On the property is a church building where the congregation of 400 worships.  If there is a baptism or other special occasion the building can hold about 450-500 if they really squeeze in. There is also a house on the property for a pastor or caretaker to live in, and an outbuilding that is used as a nursery on Sundays and for some special events throughout the year. The value of the land and the 3 structures is assessed at around $800,000 dollars.  But the outbuilding is in disrepair, there are concerns of rodents in the walls, and the parents of the young ones are rightly concerned – this is the building the church nursery is in!  I certainly would not like my child sleeping in there.

The conundrum:

So, this church council began prayerfully looking into options. Seeking to both glorify God and do the best for the congregation they looked into the cost of fixing the existing structure or building a new one. But they hit a snag and the city would not grant the permits to build a new structure.

So renovation it is.

That should be cheaper right?

Wrong.

The city will grant a permit for renovating the existing structure and adding a meeting room. However there is a catch.  The catch is that the renovations will have to bring the building up to current code. In order to renovate and bring the building up to code, the church council has proposed spending just over $400,000 to renovate the outbuilding. Ouch…can anyone say “#firstworldproblems?”

This congregation has a tough decision to make. Is it wise to renovate a single building on the property for just about half the assessed value of the property? Is it wise to continue to use the old building with it’s health and safety concerns? There are about 100 families in this congregation. The cost works out to about $4000 per family. That is if no one leaves and no one joins. But can a price be put on health and safety?

The building is old and needs to be renovated, or another option for the nursery needs to be figured out… that much is clear.   However with the immense estimated cost of the renovation, this congregation must make very certain this is the correct course of action.

Some questions beg asking.

• How often is the building used? The outbuilding is used only 4 hours on Sundays for nursery and another 2 hours or so during the week for meetings.  One can assume that there will be more meetings held in the new meeting room so they could up that number to maybe 12-20 hours per week.
• How unsafe is the current building? Let’s just say it’s no good. There are rodent concerns, there is probably dry rot in some places. It is not ideal for a nursery.
• Will the cost be reflected in a substantial increase in the value of the property? Not likely. If this congregation makes the decision to renovate, that is essentially a decision that they are probably never leaving that property – because that money will never be recouped  in selling the property.

2 hypothetical questions:

• What if the congregation outgrows the current church building? Will that building then need to be renovated to seat more worshipers?  What is the cost of that?
• What if the congregation grows to a point and then splits to form two congregations?  Will both congregations continue to pay for the renovation? Or will increased burden be placed on fewer people who stay?

This focus is mostly on dollars and cents, but what of the health of the babies?  Do they stay home with mom while she watches the worship service via live feed? Or do they go to the old nursery for an hour or two?  Does the congregation spend the money on the renovation? The health of children is paramount, but are there no other options available to this congregation?  Would selling the existing property, and using the profit from the sale combined with the proposed $400,000, and buying a new property for $1,000,000 or so be a better solution?  

Ultimately we need to seek to glorify God with our finances, both personally and corporately as a church.  I cannot help but think of the parable of the talents.

What would you say if this was your congregation?

I welcome your thoughts.

 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,each according to his ability.Then he went on his journey.  The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.  So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’