More than two years after leaving parish ministry, I am convinced our facilities hold us back. Buildings do much good, no question about it, from housing the homeless to providing the faithful a friendly place to honor God. Many a heart is turned just sitting in a hushed sanctuary as sunlight filters through stained glass. Many a pilgrim has fallen to his knees beneath a Gothic vault. But on balance, I have come to believe church buildings do us more harm than good.
Buildings propel the wrong people into church leadership.
The impractical, dreamy and foolishly generous whom Jesus himself chose for leadership never make it in church elections. Parishioners with gifts like healing, prayer and teaching are certainly valued, but they are rarely put in charge because the property requires lawyers, bankers and businessmen to make the important decisions. Leadership meetings focus on property, not on the congregation's spiritual well-being. Property dominates church spending. The budget share devoted to property maintenance far outweighs spending on missions, children, the hungry, the naked, or any of those mentioned in Matthew 25.