132. How to Update an Older Church Building

In 2012, Mike Santiago planted Focus Church with his wife Ashton in metropolitan Raleigh, North Carolina. The church met in rented school facilities for several years until being told their rental agreement would expire in two weeks. Providentially, Focus was able to merge with an older, existing church whose facilities had been built in the 1980s. People expect different things from church facilities in 2018 than they did in the 1980s, however, so renovations were needed. Plus, there were items of deferred maintenance that needed to be addressed. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, Influence magazine senior editor John Davidson interviews Mike Santiago about how to update an older church building on a limited budget. Santiago is pastor of Focus Church as well as a member of the Church Multiplication Network’s Field-Based Team, coordinating training for church planters in the Assemblies of God (USA). You can connect with Santiago on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. His handle is @CheckTheMike. Episode 132 Notes 00:00 Introduction of podcast topic 00:29 Strong Enough to Last sponsor ad 01:13 Introduction of Mike Santiago 01:53 The facilities journey of a church planter 04:14 How have people’s expectations about church buildings changed over the past three decades? 07:17 What are the top 3 or 4 spaces in a church building that need to be addressed first? 08:49 Where does renovation of a church’s exterior fall on a pastor’s list of priorities? 10:43 What big-impact changes can you make on a limited budget? 11:46 What about signage? 13:18 How can you take an older space or a sterile space (like a school) more appealing? 16:12 How do you lead people through the process of renovation? 20:07 How to connect with Mike Santiago online 21:10 Conclusion