Three Paradigms for Property Stewardship
A good part of my work with church leaders is challenging them to see things that are invisible. By invisible, I mean beliefs, mindsets and paradigms that shape how they see their property and how they define successful ministry.
In order to choose a future for your property that truly aligns with your church mission, resources and capacity, leaders must do the invisible work first; they must identify their governing paradigms and values. When it comes to property, I’ve seen three main paradigms at play. These paradigms often indicate whether a church is ready and willing to engage a new perspective and tackle placemaking as a creative way to pursue ministry in the neighborhood.
1. The Maintenance Paradigm
Churches operating under this paradigm see their property as an asset to manage primarily for the benefit of the congregation. The ultimate goal is to keep the property operational and maintenance costs low. These are worthwhile goals — you shouldn’t consider placemaking if you haven’t been able to achieve them. But churches can sometimes get locked in this paradigm, becoming so fearful about costs and maintenance and heavily resistant towards anything that might increase the maintenance load.
With this scarcity mentality, it is harder to embrace placemaking as an avenue for connecting with the community beyond your four walls, but not impossible. If you can find opportunities to combine property maintenance work and placemaking, you can help assuage those who are unsure about placemaking.
For example, if your church needs to resurface the parking lot, why not consider restriping it to include basketball, pickleball, or foursquare courts as well? If you approach placemaking and maintenance together, you might find that some placemaking projects can also help solve some maintenance issues in a creative manner and barely add to the load.
2. The Protection Paradigm
Churches stuck in the protection paradigm are constantly worried about anything that could damage the property, decrease its value or increase liability. It’s understandable to want to protect a church property, but sometimes this protective urge can go too far. Over-protective churches forget to see their property as gifts to be shared and adopt instead a posture of retrenchment – holding on tightly to what they have, afraid to share it with others. If left unchecked, this posture can lead to a hostile attitude towards change, outsiders and new ideas for reaching the community.
3. The Gift Paradigm
In contrast to the first two paradigms, churches operating in the gift paradigm see their property as a gift to steward properly but also to share with others. While they see the value in maintaining the property, staying within the limits of available resources and protecting the property to a reasonable degree, their overall desire is to use the gift as a means to bless others. Instead of retrenching in fear, they embrace an abundance mindset.
For these churches, incremental placemaking projects are a great fit: they are low-cost and impermanent, making it easy to test small ideas over time to see what works and to find wise ways to collaborate with the local community that don’t put the property at risk. At the heart of this paradigm is a strong sense of gratitude and wonder and a desire to share God’s goodness with others.
The gift mindset is what we see in scripture where God tells his people to seek the flourishing of their city. Churches can’t accomplish this calling if they’re overly focused on maintaining or protecting. It’s only when we embrace the gift paradigm that we can truly begin to seek the good of our neighbors and share our property with others.
Ready to explore what might be possible with your property?
Click below to book a free, no-obligations call with us.