Technical Resources Manual for Denver Historic Sacred Places : Sacred Landmarks Preservation

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Maintenance and Repair Resources

Your Building - Opportunity for Ministry and Outreach
Most religious congregations in the United States have the blessing of owning a building-and many own more than one! Parish houses, parsonages, chapels, and other auxiliary structures, together with the principal buildings for worship, permit congregations to meet for daily or weekly services and also reach out to the community with vital ministries. A congregation's buildings are its greatest asset for worship, outreach, and other activities that form the core of its mission.

At best, religious buildings can be both inspirational and functional, focusing worshipers on higher things while also containing necessary rooms like offices, classrooms, fellowship halls, kitchens, and rest rooms. Those buildings that are not at their best may need extensive renovation, or they may need something more basic-regular maintenance.

The Importance of Regular Maintenance
Most sacred places were built to last. Indeed, many are the oldest and most beautiful structures in their neighborhoods, constructed long ago by people who used stone, brick, and massive timbers as a testimony to the permanence of their faith.

But even the most solidly built churches, synagogues, meetinghouses, and temples need regular maintenance and repair to remain physically strong. Over time, heating systems fail, roofs leak, and wiring frays. You can prepare for problems, though, by including maintenance in your congregation's annual budget and laying aside additional money for eventual system replacement. Maintenance will help preserve the roof, water heater, and heating and air conditioning systems. Laying aside money for replacement will leave you prepared when systems do fail.

There are other ways to be prepared as well: Collect your repair records and interview your custodian to learn more about the history of your boiler, water heater, air conditioning, and other systems. Examine your utility records to determine whether your energy use has recently increased. You may even want to secure a building conditions survey to learn the true state of your property. Here are two articles explaining what a conditions survey can do for you:

Even without a conditions survey, simply documenting your house of worship can be extremely useful for posterity, especially in the event of catastrophic fire. The maintenance supervisor should appoint a task force to document the facilities-at least in photographs, and perhaps also with measured drawings.

Once you have collected the information about your congregation, be sure to keep it organized and up to date. A filing cabinet may be all that's necessary, or you may want to consider purchasing a Maintenance Manual from Partners for Sacred Places. The manual details seasonal maintenance projects and provides checklists for you to assess your own building's strengths and needs. If you are not keeping repair records, now is the time to start!

Find ordering information for the Maintenance Manual and other publications at www.sacredplaces.org/pubs.htm.

Oversight
Clergy may argue that they don't want to busy themselves with worrying about the building-they need to be spending time studying, teaching, and pastoring. If that's a concern for you, appoint a staff member, council member, or other lay person to be maintenance supervisor. Although this person may also be the custodian, the duties of the maintenance supervisor are quite different. The maintenance supervisor takes responsibility for keeping records of repairs and maintenance, periodically inspecting the facility, getting bids for any work that needs to be done and overseeing the work, and communicating closely with the regular custodian. Here are two brief articles about hiring maintenance personnel and supervising contractors:

At other times, the maintenance supervisor may organize members of the congregation to do some repairs themselves. Here is the story of how members of one New York congregation repaired the church steeple.

Preservation Profile: the First Universalist Church, Southold, New York

You may also want to appoint an "energy warden" to take charge of reducing your energy costs, thereby freeing up additional money for ministry. Or ask the congregation's facilities committee to assume responsibility for all areas of building maintenance, repair, and energy use. Remember that the principal duty for such a committee will not be organizing volunteer gardeners or cleaning up the grounds, but rather safeguarding your congregation's largest ministry asset-your building.

The Interfaith Coalition on Energy offers a brief checklist that your supervisor, energy warden, or facilities committee will find helpful:

Checklist for the Energy Warden

Energy and Systems
Three rules govern congregational energy use. Rule No. 1: You are spending more on utilities than you need to. Rule No. 2: You are vaguely worried that one of your major systems will eventually suffer catastrophic failure or-even worse-start a fire. Rule No. 3: Unless you've actually had to replace a boiler or fix something recently, you haven't actually done anything to calm your vague fears.

Two things can help you rest easier. First, using the checklist, your energy warden should examine all your systems. Second, you should join the Interfaith Coalition on Energy (ICE), a non-profit organization that helps congregations to save money by saving energy. ICE offers a quarterly newsletter and other publications with extremely practical advice. You may want to receive an energy audit from one of the ICE professionals who can show you exactly what your congregation can do to lower the utility bill.

Contact information: Interfaith Coalition on Energy, 7217 Oak Avenue, Melrose Park, PA 19027, (215) 635-1122.

Andrew Rudin, founder of the Interfaith Coalition on Energy, offers an overview of energy savings for congregations: Energy Savings.

ICE offers a booklet on reducing energy costs. The booklet is available here in full:: Reducing Energy Costs in Religious Buildings: A Workbook for Congregational Leaders

Finally, here are several further articles about energy use.

Further information is available from Partners for Sacred Places' Publications Center:

Information Series No. 60: Energy in Houses of Worship
Information Series No. 64: Systems in Houses of Worship
Operations, Maintenance, Preservation, and Energy

The All-Important Roof
The roof on your sacred place is your most important protection against weather and the damage it can do. Well-built roofs can last a long time-many slate roofs endure for more than a century-but all eventually need repair or replacement. You should plan ahead, laying aside money for the future, so you won't be caught unprepared when your roof needs help.

Here are several general articles on roofs:

Slate roofs have a particular beauty and last a very long time, but they have particular needs as well. Here are a few articles on slate roofs:

Further information is available from Partners for Sacred Places' Publications Center:
Information Series No. 59: Roofing Houses of Worship

When it's time to get bids, you may want to consider members of Partners for Sacred Places' Professional Alliance.

Windows and Stained Glass
Stained glass has graced houses of worship for centuries, and many congregations today are justifiably proud of their glass. Stained glass lasts forever if properly cared for, but many congregations don't know how to preserve this precious and expensive asset. Here are a few resources to help:

Further information is available from Partners for Sacred Places' Publications Cente:

Conservation and Restoration of Stained Glass: An Owner's Guide
Stained Glass in Houses of Worship

For more information about the history of stained glass, visit the Stained Glass Association of America. Several stained glass studios are members of Partners' Professional Alliance.

Fire
In the last ten years church arson has been on the front page of American newspapers. While arson remains a serious problem for sacred places, many fires in religious structures are caused by other factors. Below are a number of articles that provide important information about fire prevention:

Other Issues
As you already know, there is more to maintenance than windows and roofs. Following are more articles on various topics that your maintenance supervisor will find helpful: