My Speaking Notes From The National Association Of Church Facility Managers Conference

On Tuesday, June 12th I have the privilege of speaking to The National Association Of Church Facility Managers.  Led by their executive director Dwayne McKeon, this is one of my favorite events of the year.  If your church has a facilities team and they are not part of this organization, do them a favor and get them connected as soon as possible.  No organization will love and resource them more.

The following are the notes from my two sessions I will be conducting tomorrow:

Session 1 – My goal is to encourage them and say “THANK YOU”

The following are daily realities of today’s church’s facility managers:

1. They work on average 50-55 hours per week.
2. They arrive at church on Sunday by 6:00 am to check the mechanical, heating, A/C, drainage, cleanliness, baptism water temperature and any other unexpected item which arises.
3. They listen to all complaints.
4. On Sunday they work for a church.  In essence, they then work for a de facto conference and wedding center Monday through Saturday.
5. They rarely get a Saturday off.
6. Life consists of three things – Clean Up, Set Up, and Repair.
7. The price of being a Facility Manager at a local church is the loss of community.  They have to guard themselves spiritually because they rarely get to attend a service, Sunday School, or small groups.
8. Because of low compensation, employee turnover is a constant.
9. There is never enough time.
10. There are few benefits.
11. And worse, many in church staff or senior leadership view them as “The Help”.
12. Rarely does an invitation to the executive Christmas party ever come.
13. Their opinion is rarely asked for.
14. Success is when no one knows they were even there.
15. Because of this culture, burn out is a constant companion.

I was also asked to speak on How To Have A Comeback.  The following are my thoughts:

1. To Have A Comeback In Your Life You Must Make Hard Decisions 
2. To Have A Comeback In Your Life You Must Be Highly Competitive – I will remind them they compete against themselves and God’s best for their lives.  Malachi 1 and the concept of the unblemished lamb will be my text.
3. To Have A Comeback In Your Life You Need A Sense Of Urgency – While the calendar provides some deadlines, what drives urgency is the mission and vision of their church is too important not to become reality.
4. To Have A Comeback In Your Life You Must Be Able To Overcome Adversity
5. To Have A Comeback In Your Life Comeback You Must Focus
6. To Have A Comeback In Your Life Keep Things In Perspective
7. To Have A Comeback In Your Life You Must Be Desperate – I wrote about the subject of desperation and its value to leaders.  You can read the full article here.
8. To Have A Comeback In Your Life You Must Have Confidence It Will Happen – Other than the Bible, prayer and the Holy Spirit, a leader’s greatest weapon is their memory.  They remember how God moved on their behalf in the past and He will do so again in the future.
9. A Comeback In Your Life You Must Believe It Is Never Over – Some of these individuals may want to quit their jobs and ministry.  They feel it is over.  I want to remind them it is not over until God’s says it’s over.

Session 2

For the second session, I was asked to speak on the subject of burnout.  I will be using Nehemiah 4 as my primary text.  This is the passage when all he saw was rubble.

To avoid burnout and get out of the rubble you must do the following:

1. Surround Yourself With People You Love And Trust – “So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans” – v. 13
2. You Need The Right Tools And Resources – “with their swords, their spears, and their bows.” – v.13
3. Rally Your Leaders First – “And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials” – v.14
4. Rally Your People Second – “and to the rest of the people” – v.14
5. Relax – “Do not be afraid of them.” – v.14
6. Remember What God Has Done For You In The Past – “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome” – v.14
7. You Must Engage The Battle – “and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” – v.14
8. Get Back To Work – “we all returned to the wall, each to his work.” – v.15
9. Assign People To Their Area Of Expertise – “From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail.” – v. 16
10. Support Those Who Are Working Hard – “And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah who were building on the wall.” – v. 16-17
11. You Must Carry A Heavier Load – “Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.” – v. 17
12. You Must Be Diligent – “And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.” – v.18
13. Everyone Must Rally Together – “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.  In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.” – v. 19-20
14. Trust God And Allow Him To Help You – “Our God will fight for us.”- v.20
15. Requires Great Time And Effort – “So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, ‘Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.’” – v. 21-22
16. Requires A Great Team – “So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.” – v.23

Time permitting I may give them 7 Qualities Of A Great Team:

1. Great Teams Are Led By Humble Leaders
2. Great Teams Deeply Care For One Another
3. Great Teams Serve One Another
4. Great Teams Have Great Unity
5. Great Teams Honor Each Other
6. Great Teams Have Great Joy
7. Great Teams Produce Great Results

Pray I serve these wonderful leaders well.

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