Far more than an interruption, COVID has disrupted our lives, our businesses, and our churches. And disruption means breaking apart and separating—you don’t go back to “normal” after a disruption.
Those are the words of one of my favorite leaders Brad Eisenmann, president of Aspen Group. If you are not familiar with Aspen, you should be. They are a ministry-focused design, build, furnish firm providing integrated solutions for new church facilities, additions, and renovations.
What I love most about this organization is the local church is not just a secondary market to them as it is with many design, build, and architectural groups. The local church is primary. Every time I have referred Aspen to a pastor or church leader, they have added tremendous value. Their primary goal is simply to help the church, not make the sale. And because they do not prioritize “making a sale”, they get to help assist numerous churches.
Below is an article from Brad on a new initiative they are doing entitled Rapid Relaunch. If you need to construct a new facility or reimagine existing space, you want Aspen Group as part of your interview process. Click HERE or on the image provided to start a conversation with them. You will not be disappointed. Now onto Brad’s comments:
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Many of us initially thought—hoped might be a better word—that COVID-19 would be a mere interruption, quickly resolved. I recently came across an email I sent to our staff in late March in which it was clear that the prospect of the pandemic stretching to Memorial Day was daunting, even scary. I daresay that today most of us are convinced it will be with us well into 2021.
Far more than an interruption, COVID has disrupted our lives, our businesses, and our churches. And disruption means breaking apart and separating—you don’t go back to “normal” after a disruption.
At Aspen we’re blessed to be in conversations with dozens of churches at any given time. And we are hearing some consistent themes as many church leaders come to grips with not being able to return to their facilities any time soon. We’ve identified three major facility-related problems at this stage:
- COVID-19 has disrupted the way churches facilitate ministry, especially for worship, kids, and lobby spaces.
- COVID-19 has disrupted many churches’ ability to return to schools or other leased space.
- COVID-19 has left many large and multisite churches unsure whether they still have the right overall facility strategy given changes in ministry programming.
Need a quick facility fix? Find out if Rapid Relaunch is right for your church.
Today, I’m thrilled to announce a new offering from Aspen designed to go straight at these issues. We’re calling it Rapid Relaunch, a customized, quick engagement to help churches create solutions for these problems. For $15,000, we will lead qualifying churches through a one-month, high-impact, fast-delivery process, providing:
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- An outline of the scope of the potential solution.
- A timeline to execute on the solution.
- A cost to complete the project.
- A fast-track engagement with Aspen to immediately execute the work during this unique window of time.
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The last half of 2020 affords us a short but opportunity-filled window to develop and implement a rapid facility solution before you return to your building in early 2021. Our team of facility experts is as devoted as ever to creating space for ministry impact through an integrated design and construction approach. In fact, we’ve intentionally created tight qualifying parameters for Rapid Relaunch engagements because it’s not intended to take the place of our tested, robust, design-build process.
(Candidly, Rapid Relaunch came together quickly and has felt like an inspired idea. I’ve learned that those kinds of mysterious things are often the work of the Holy Spirit, and I’m grateful to lead a team that steps boldly unto such prompting.)
Rapid Relaunch is designed for churches that are wrestling with questions prompted by COVID-19, such as:
- Fix Issues Quickly: Are you considering major adjustments to your ministry program due to COVID-19? Do you want to maximize the time while your building is not fully utilized to accomplish a previously planned facility project more efficiently? Has your reopening strategy revealed problems with key ministry spaces in your building?
- Find or Renovate New Space: Are you stuck because the school you leased is no longer allowing you to meet? Are you considering taking advantage of leasing newly available retail space in your area? Are you weighing portable options against build-out options?
- Too Much Space: Are you wondering if your building is too big and a barrier to your new growth strategy? Do you want to maximize potential use of your space in this season in creative ways, whether for income or for ministry? Do you have a large auditorium, but not enough medium-sized ministry spaces to accommodate your reopening strategy?
If you’re asking these kinds of questions, you may be a perfect candidate for Rapid Relaunch. We’re accepting applications now through August 21 for a limited number of Rapid Relaunch engagements. This offering is designed to maximize the very short window between now and when you’re back in your building—a unique opportunity to leverage the COVID disruption in a powerful, ministry-impacting way.
Please apply today so our team of experts can follow-up to determine if Rapid Relaunch is the right facility planning solution for you.
We recognize many churches will still want to engage Aspen in our Alignment and Design/Build/Furnish process for a robust and comprehensive approach to their facility needs. Rapid Relaunch is for right now and on a limited basis. Rest assured that our team is just as ready to engage in our typical approach as ever! My hope and prayer is for Rapid Relaunch to be a blessing to your church.
