Who will Lead your Building Project?

By Jim Smith, Pre-Construction Manager

So your church is ready to embark on a building project...it’s going to require significant time and attention from a church representative to serve as the primary “go-to” person on the project.  Who is the right person to lead the church through the process? 

We often refer to this point person from the church as the “owner’s rep.” This role works best when the following attributes are present:

• Authority — The owner’s rep should be given the authority to make final decisions on behalf of the church (within the church’s governing rules).  Make sure that everyone involved understands the importance and centrality of this role.  It is necessary for all decisions to flow through one person to minimize the risk of confusion and costly mistakes.

• Continuity — The owner’s rep should be involved in the project from the very early stages of visioning all the way through the end of construction.  We must emphasize this point!  Other team members may come and go, but the Owner’s Rep should be consistent.

• Communication — this person will be the “face of the project” and can influence how church members view the entire process.  Through staff updates and frequent communications to the congregation, this person must maintain a positive confidence to keep everyone engaged.

• Construction Experience – This is an important and useful attribute, but not critical.  It is much more important that this person is deeply aligned with the ministry, a team player, and has a “win-win” attitude.

Owner's Reps Bob Horn and Bruce Smith (College Park Church), at weekly meeting with Aspen

Some churches choose a staff member to fill this role.  Others select a lay member of the Building Committee.  When the attributes above are present in the role, we find that it can work well either way.  In fact, it is often a very rewarding experience for the Owner’s Rep to use his/her God-given strengths to help make this vision become reality.

Who will be your Owner’s Rep?