Fresh Perspective On Office Space
By Terry Tarleton, Pastor VC @ Anthem
Meeting and office space has been an on-going issue since planting our church in a brand new master planned community six years ago. Initially we met in a hotel conference room and the church office was in our house. Eventually we outgrew that and were able to lease about 3,400 square feet to accommodate about a 120-person auditorium, three children’s rooms, lobby and, of course, men’s and women’s restrooms, but all we could afford space and money-wise was one office which doubled as a fifth and sixth grade class on Sunday.
When we hired a full-time office manager, the two of us squeezed into the one office, but with phones ringing and volunteers in and out, it was hard to get anything done. (Thank God for laptops and Starbucks).
Our next step was to lease a 200 square foot executive suite close to the church for $1,000 per month. It provided a private office for me and a place to hold an adult training class on Sunday mornings, but that didn’t last long. We were adding more part-time staff and volunteers who needed space to work – plus we needed the office at the church for a full-time children’s classroom. We didn’t have the budget to expand the church site, and adding another executive suite seemed impractical and very expensive.
That’s when the depressed housing market worked to our advantage! We leased a new, never-lived-in, 2,400 square foot, four bedroom home a few blocks from the church for only $1,195 per month! It’s been an amazing asset. We have two private offices, a prayer room that doubles as small meeting space, a large master bedroom divided up (by donated cubicles) into two offices with an additional volunteer work station.
Our youth group currently meets at the house so the living room is actually a game room with ping pong, air hockey and foosball tables. The family room is used as the meeting room for the youth, Sunday morning adult classes and a Leadership LifeGroup.
The bonus is we have tons of storage space indoors as well as the garage which enabled us to give up the U-Haul storage space we were renting.
We expect to be using a house for the next few years, at least. Unfortunately, the one we are currently renting is in foreclosure and we’ll have to move. We considered the church buying it as an investment, but couldn’t quite afford it. Instead, one of our church members is buying a house and leasing it to the church for the same price. It happens to be the same floor plan, but on an oversized lot. Maybe we could talk them into a sand volleyball court and barbecue grill for fellowships – or a pool for baptisms!
add comment