By Steve Petty
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” Luke 14:28 NRSV
It’s not always just the cost in money. Money is simply the way we purchase materials. The most essential building material since the cave: Bricks and mortar. I don’t care how your church is physically constructed; when it comes to programs, ministry, and planning for growth, every church needs lots of bricks and some really good mortar.
Church experts like to expound at length about the things that are necessary to build a healthy vital church. I have to tell you that all of their advice is good – that is, if you believe it and you do something about it. If you follow their advice and lay out plans to build as they describe, there is a high likelihood that you will have success.
It’s kind of like diet books: Most of them have some essence of truth to them. Almost all of them will work if you follow the plan. Most of the plans are based on some new understanding that is revolutionary and scientific and involves doing this one special thing, while also reducing the calories you take in, being very conscious of the fats that you eat, and exercising on a daily basis. Of course, following those last three instructions and ignoring the one special thing will also have beneficial results. Every organism, churches included, grows in a physical space, draws nutrients from available resources, and continues to grow until something happens to hinder future growth, limit future resources, or change the viability of the physical space.
What does a church require? The concept I want to propose is that you think about how your church is growing with those resources. Further, I want to encourage you to think of those resources as Bricks and Mortar.
Bricks are the essential building blocks of the church. The more building blocks you have to use, the bigger the church you can build. Bricks are the essential functions that a church carries out as it performs its ministry: Preaching, worship, teaching, discipleship, Bible studies, missions, social concerns, specialized ministries: children, youth, adults, seniors, special needs, etc. Really small churches might only have one brick – worship on Sundays, with nothing going on the rest of the week. Really large churches might have hundreds of bricks – each part a special ministry carried out by that church.
Mortar is the glue that holds the bricks together. Mortar represents those parts of the church that find ways for us to get to know, appreciate and enjoy one another as we do the work of the church: Those old-fashioned monthly church potlucks, summer picnics, coffee fellowship, any event that includes a lot of time just being with other people.
It takes both brick and mortar, and in good measure. I have seen churches fail badly because they built all their ministries (bricks) and failed to have some simple fun events while doing ministry. When the building shook, it fell down; there was no bond to hold the church and the people together. I have seen churches fail by spending too much time having fellowship fun and not enough on essential ministries: It was a lot of fun for a while, but new people stopped joining when all the groups closed out and there was no real ministry to fulfill people.
It will be helpful to think of bricks and mortar in two ways: What do we have and how much energy do we spend maintaining it. The first part will look like an inventory, but it will give you a clear picture of how your church is balanced. Is there a healthy ratio of bricks to mortar to build a strong lasting church? (I was appointed to a church once with eighteen bridge groups and one Bible study. They were mightily offended when I suggested that might not be a healthy balance.)
The second part of that evaluation is harder to do. How much energy do we spend doing what we do? I have prepared a table to show you what I mean. (Download table here.) Across the top of the table, list all the resources you utilize to provide the bricks and mortar: Pastor, Staff / Key Leader, Team, Finances, Buildings. Down the left hand column list all the Bricks on the top and all the Mortar on the bottom. I have listed some examples. Add or delete to your heart’s content or until you are happy that you have a complete picture of your church activities and resources.
Then consider where you spend your energy. Is there a balance of Bricks and Mortar? Is there a balance in the time, money, staff, volunteers, building / space devoted to Bricks and Mortar?
What is a healthy balance? I won’t propose a strict standard; every church will be different. But some basic concepts may help:
At a minimum, do we have 60% or more bricks (with correspondingly 40% or fewer mortar events)?
At a maximum, do we have 90% or fewer bricks (with correspondingly 10% or more mortar events)?
The percentage allocations of energy should be roughly comparable to the percentage allocations of bricks vs. mortar – for example, 90% bricks but only 10% energy devoted to bricks would be significantly out of balance.
Use the grid to get responses from staff and key leaders. Pass an empty grid out at a staff planning retreat, or the monthly church council meeting. Allow people to see clearly where your church energy is being spent and what events are actually carrying out ministry in your community. This might inspire some people to look at ways to change those ratios.
When you can see all that clearly, you will have some idea of where you might want to add or remove bricks and mortar and add or restrict energy expended. Then you can create a new plan and build a stronger and healthier church.