In my years as an executive pastor, not ever having facilities staff, I had to develop a team of volunteers and contractors that handled the facilities maintenance program. I remember talking to one of the contractors one day when the “ongoing nature” of facilities maintenance came up.
I said, “The facilities game never ends!” Since then, I’ve said it dozens of times. I know from first-hand experience that taking care of a building and campus is a “never-ending battle.”
The church I served all those years had two buildings (more than 50,000 square feet) and 19 acres of land. It was awesome to have a 1,000-seat venue and lots of children’s/student space for Sunday morning services. It was almost as awesome to have some nice office space in which to work through the week.
But, it meant there were …
- 22 toilets
- Nine urinals
- One poop grinder
- Many paper towel dispensers, soap dispensers, sinks, mirrors, etc.
- 14 separate HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) units
- 14 separate, programmable thermostats
- Hundreds of light fixtures
- Thousands of light bulbs
- Two security systems
- Lots of hedges and grass
- Lots of “stuff” (carpet, tile, tables, chairs, vacuum cleaners, hand trucks, ladders, tech/production equipment, servers, computers, phones, etc.)
- Etc …
Yes, it was a lot to maintain and otherwise fix, adjust, replace, repair, clean, paint, patch, schedule, etc.
Before that time, in my corporate days, we had many dedicated employees and several contractors to take care of similar facilities and grounds. Not so much in that situation. Resources were limited. Consequently, getting everything done was a HUGE challenge!