We have had so many building repairs. In my office, I have an orange notebook. The staff and I are using it manage several different projects related to the building: adding access control and security to the major entrances, changing 10 air conditioning units, getting the roof repaired, repaving the parking lot, upgrading our internet service and installing wifi through the center section of the building, replacing the gravel in the playground with playground mulch.
I have zero building management experience. The fact that building management has been such a low priority for me until this year is part of what has forced me to think about it now. I am by no means claiming expertise. I feel more ignorant about physical plants now than at the beginning of the year. But, I thought I should record a few of my preliminary observations about what happens when a minister manages a building (or when this minister manages this building):
1. Nothing in his ministry training or experience is helpful here.
2. Having "another set of eyes and ears" on a problem means managing another set of opinions.
3. When a contractor thinks that he is your only option, he will charge you more. I'm grateful to Troy Singleton for the line--you can sheer a sheep many times but you can only skin them once.
4. Vendors can be some of the most emotionally temperamental people you'll deal with in a week--and that's saying a lot for a minister.
5. If I preached sermons the way some of these guys run their businesses, I wouldn't be able to serve a church anywhere.
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