Things to Consider When Relocating Your Church Facility – Part 1: Is Your Church Really Ready for Relocation? With Todd Brown and Isaac Brown of Brown Church Development Group

Episode #SP037
November 22, 2024
Rainer on Leadership Podcast Logo

Thom is joined by Todd Brown and Isaac Brown of Brown Church Development Group, who are “The Church Facility Experts.” In this first episode, we discuss what qualifies a church for relocation and why you need to prove with data that you can’t stay on the site.

Steps to consider before leaving your current facility:

    • Create a Facility Growth Strategy for your current property and identify the limiting factors to your ministry. This will give you tangible reasons to relocate or to stay. You can create a strategy that tells you to stay or go without going into great detail. Some properties will require you to abandon, but most will give you an opportunity to stay if you do your homework. 
    • Once you have a Facility Growth Strategy or just balanced your facility, use creative programming and maximize your ROI with detailed multiple sessions. 
    • A good Facility Growth Strategy will identify growth potential on your property and potential for acquiring surrounding property. Remember the most expensive thing to do is relocate. You must exhaust all avenues to stay.
      • Most churches get pennies on the dollar when they sell a facility.
      • Your facility is worth the most to your congregation so you can afford to pay a lot for surrounding property.
      • Your facility is worth $300 to $400 per SF to you if you are considering starting over.
      • Exhaust the idea of staying on a property before considering relocation.
      • As part of a Facility Growth Strategy, you might need to form an investment group in your church to begin buying surrounding properties.
    • The reality of relocation typically comes down to balancing the ministry space needs with the finances. If you do not consider finances, you will make bad choices.

Resources:

Episode Sponsor: