The challenge for every church as they approach solutions for either anticipated growth or present overcrowding is to clarify their vision. By identifying this as the real challenge we mean that it is both more fundamental and logical prior to other discussions just as drawing a blueprint is more fundamental and logical prior to buying two-by-fours when building a house.

This is where we believe that the process of Strategic Master Planning (SMP) is the best means for the achievement of clarity. So, what is clarity really about? A synthesis of definitions brings clarity to the concept of clarity: It means being free from anything that obscures, blocks, pollutes or darkens. As a leader, it means being simple, understandable and exact. The leader helps others better see and understand reality. Leaders constantly bring the most important things to light: current reality and future possibility, what God says about these and what we need to do about them. A leader’s clarity is the sun in the vision-to-reality solar system. We might say that clarity is the fuel that runs the twin engines of vision and action. The following five elements are essential to effective Vision Clarification:

• Leadership Team Consultation
• Vision Clarification
• Church Health Analysis
• Ministry/Mission Focus
• Future Opportunities/Challenges

Each of these steps produces invaluable resources that are verbally and visually delivered to the church. These Vision Clarification Process Deliverables are:

1. Leadership Team Consultation

• Written summary of the purpose of the consultation
• Written summary of the results of the consultation, specifically dealing with three fundamental questions: What is important (values)? Why do we exist (mission)? and Where are we going (vision)?

1. Vision Clarification

• Written summary of church specific philosophy of ministry
• Written mission statement accurately reflecting philosophy of ministry
• Visual representation of mission statement (logos).

1. Church Health Analysis

• Summary of existing staff (paid and volunteer) positions and job descriptions with analysis of each in reference to mission and ministry effectiveness
• Summary of financial history of the church, both written and graphed.
• Summary of growth of the church in the past five years, both written and graphed.

1. Ministry/Mission Focus

• Summary of community demographics and needs

1. Future Opportunities and Challenges

• Recommendations with transformational strategies
• Outline of “next steps” with recommended timeline

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• The first of these is basic church information detailing both the membership history as well as the financial history of the church. The result of this analysis gives both a detailed review of the church’s means and allows for the accurate estimation of projected growth in the vital areas of the church.

• The second area of analysis deals with basic leadership, such as the number and position description of staff, tenure, history, denominational affiliations, licenses, and/or ordinations. This analysis is especially important when dealing with various funding sources, such as denominational financial sources, local banks or credit unions, and/or national lenders.

• The third area of analysis deals with financial and membership data. Through analysis of this data we are able to detail and graph the health and ability of the church providing for a nationally accepted numerical score (credit gradient) acceptable to most lenders.

What are the advantages of the Financial Master Plan? There are several advantages to the development of the FMP especially at this stage of planning.

• First, it allows the church to count the cost in the earliest stages of planning. The FMP will provide the church with both spreadsheets and graphs that can diagnose (past performance), assess (present performance), and forecast (future performance) the financial potential of the church in a package that allows the church to accurately plan and design the optimal means for completing their project.

• Second, this also provides the foundational materials and documents for professional loan submittal. Typically this is done for a large fee, however, because of the depth of research we do during the SMP we can include this service at no extra fee. It is our experience that this package greatly enhances both the capability and capacity of securing the necessary loans for the project.

• Third, the FMP also compares and contrasts various scenarios from the different loan sources including various amortization schedules for retiring the loan. This is done both with spreadsheet schedules and graphs.

• Fourth, the FMP provides excellent tools to communicate to the church body completely and confidently. The color coded graphs and charts provided are an excellent tool to enhance the presentation of information to the congregation.

• Fifth, the FMP insures that the project will be completely for the allocated resources.  Many great visions have been lost because the question of “how are we going to pay for it?” could not be adequately answered. The Financial Master Plan insures that will not happen

Request your free ( $1,000.00 value) Confidential Financial Assessment

Related posts:

1. Resources Master Plan
2. Ministry Master Plan
3. Strategic Master Plan

Risk management covers a wide range of issues including on site safety, liability, financial and legal exposure. Our systems ensure that these issues are mitigated. We ensure sufficient insurance is in place to cover the building during the building phase, stringent job site safety measures are adhered to and contracts written in a way to ensure the church’s interest is being protected. Payment procedures insure that all suppliers have been paid per contract and for work complete as well as lien wavers and insurance being in place. Without these steps the church could be liable for unpaid supplier bills and workers compensation insurance premiums for subcontractors.

Value engineering- Is the process of analyzing what was designed and alternatives that may serve the same objective meet codes and save money.   Projects can be “value engineered” to the point of not looking like the original plans, short cuts can be taken that may save some money on the front end but are costly at a future date. On the other hand often times there are ways to be more efficient or substitute materials or methods that can save significant money, it is my job to evaluate these options for viability and recommend when to and not to proceed with them.

Communication and documentation are critical to a successful project. Conversations between multiple parties and over long periods of time have a way of becoming distorted or selective in there recall. Having consistent documentation and clarity between all parties is the cornerstone of our process. Documented communication between church, architect, engineers, codes, general contractor and subcontractors must be maintained.  Failure to do so can cause a lot more problems than hard feelings and can cost both time and money.

Holding someone accountable can sometimes be difficult either by association or lack of documentation or experience. As a construction manager, we play that role so the Church is not put into a difficult situation. If a conflict arises we deal with it in a professional industry acceptable way. Poor performance, unauthorized charges, work quality, not keeping a schedule or adhering to safety standards are just some of the examples of accountability.

Negotiations include pricing from the suppliers, subcontractors, surrounding property owners and sometimes codes or zoning officials. Having knowledge of these areas enables us to negotiate from a position of strength and ensure the church is getting the most for what they are paying. We have found that there can be significant price variances between suppliers and subcontractors and low price as stated may not be the best deal because of exclusions. When we get pricing we start by writing a standardized scope of work and not just sending out plans or worse yet partial sets. We broadcast this scope and invitation to bid through several outlets to insure we get a good response. The bids are reviewed and qualified and then we get to work on the negotiations.  We compare individual line items between subcontractors and vendors to get the absolute best pricing.

To sum it up we become an advocate for you, using our experience, systems and expertise to ensure a successful project.

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1. Construction Administration

The Strategic Master Planning process is a comprehensive, team-oriented approach to   clarifying the church’s vision, designing site and facilities to meet current and future needs and insuring that the project fits within the resources available to the church.

The team is made up of the church’s building team, a church planner, a church architect and a church builder.  This team is lead / coordinated by an individual with experience in both ministry and construction called a Navigator.  The Navigator is the church’s representative throughout the planning, design and building stages of the church’s project.  The Navigator facilitates all of the duties and responsibilities spelled out below, although there is a team of people providing the services.  The Strategic Master Plan provides the foundation for the design and construction of the project.  The Navigator works with the church to insure that the comprehensive plan that is developed in this process is carried out in the execution of the project.  This approach gives the church a consistent and comprehensive representation from beginning to end.

1. VISION CLARIFICATION:

Leadership Team Consultation – After the completion of a preliminary questionnaire, the key leaders and influencers of the church are brought together to have an in depth discussion of the vision and mission that God has given to this specific church body.  The result should be all of leadership in agreement with the long term vision of the church and the priorities that must be carried out to accomplish this vision.

Ministry and Mission Analysis – As the vision is clarified, an analysis of the current state of the church and how effectively the ministry and mission of the church is being carried out can be looked at to determine if adjustments need to be made that might affect future facilities.

Identification of Future Opportunities and Challenges – An in depth discussion of the setting and culture of the community as well as the setting and culture of the church is utilized to identify what can be realistically achieved as the church moves forward.

1. NEEDS ANALYSIS:

Feasibility Study – After initial discussions to insure the church has realistic expectations as to what can be accomplished, a more in depth feasibility study is done during the master planning process to arrive at specific conclusions.

Property Evaluation – The site is evaluated to determine capacity for growth as well as features and conditions that need to be taken into consideration.  (It is strongly recommended that a property survey is obtained, if not already done.  In many cases, it is also advisable that a civil engineer is hired to deal with site issues, especially on a new site.)

Site and Facility Master Planning – Both the site and the facilities are planned out either to the capacity of the property or as far into the future as the church leadership is able to foresee.

Phased Site and Facility Design – Color coded site and floor plans as well as elevation drawings are developed for each phase of the master plan, along with agreed upon color rendering(s).

Detailed Construction Budget – A detailed budget for phase one is developed, including any and all details that the church chooses such as design and engineering fees, permitting and approvals, furnishings and equipment, etc. along with the normal costs associated with the construction of the facility and the development of the site.

1. RESOURCE PLANNING:

Financial Master Plan – A financial plan including all sources of funds such as cash, loans, capital campaign, etc. along with all uses of funds is developed to show quantity and timing of resources needed.

Capital Campaign Coordination – The church is assisted in evaluation of capital campaign options and decision of direction and method to be utilized.  If capital campaign consultant is deemed to be best option, assistance will be provided in the determination as to best consultant to utilize.  If self led campaign is deemed to be best option, assistance will be provided in determination of best resources for program, materials, etc.  If additional assistance is needed in the actual execution of the self led campaign, the assistance will be provided for an additional nominal fee.

Volunteer Team Planning (when utilized) – If the church decides to utilize volunteer groups to perform part of the work, guidance will be provided in identifying specific work that can be performed, along with potential groups identified to perform the work.

Determination of Appropriate Builder/Building Process – As the overall game plan is developed, the church is assisted in determining the best construction process and the best builder option for performing the work.  The options for builder can range from a qualified local builder to a national builder to a qualified project manager on site working under consultant’s license.

Financing/Funding Coordination – Financing and funding options are fully evaluated through the submittal of the Financial Master Plan to various institutions and agencies.  These financing sources could range from denominational agencies; local and regional banks; national banks and credit unions and national church lenders.  The church is then assisted in determining the option(s) that best meets their needs.

The above description of services applies to the normal process that Trinity Design Group leads the church through. These services may be adjusted to address specific issues related to a particular church.

Related posts:

1. Strategic Master Plan
2. The Strategic Master Planning Process
3. How long does the master planning process take?