Again, I borrow Dr. Turner's Blog

The ABSC offices were recently moved from downtown LR to a new location. Here are Dr. Turner's thoughts about the move.

Doug



Lessons Learned in Relocation by Emil Turner, Executive Director ABSC
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009
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The Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) recently relocated from downtown Little Rock where we’d been for more than forty years to the edge of the city. There were several good reasons for the move: employee safety, maintenance costs on the old building were escalating yearly, the new site is easier for people to access, and our staff can get to the churches more easily.



I have led churches to build in the past, and learned some valuable lessons in the process. But there were some surprising insights from this experience.

1.
Building through committees is the least efficient way to build. I’ve done it both ways. A good decision maker with good counselors will produce as good a product as a committee in less time with less expense. The committee’s primary value is that it insures congregational “buy-in”.
2.
Most things can be fixed. Don’t panic. The painter can do it over, the concrete finisher can pour some more, and the dry wall people can add an expansion joint. I should have known this; God does it all the time.
3.
New on the outside does not mean new on the inside. My books are the same, the furniture is the same, the desks are the same, and the computers are the same. In our case, this is good. This reminds us that work is produced by what is inside us, not what is outside us.
4.
Work for people, churches, and the Lord can not be suspended because of other tasks. Al Farmer, who manages ABSC computer and telephone connections, had our phones working within five hours of starting the move, and our computers working within 24 hours of starting the move. He kept us connected with you and we had no complaints about being “out of service”.
5.
Nothing stays new long. Bookcases get scratched when you put the books on the shelves, doors get dinged when you move a crate through them, and carpets get stained by muddy shoes as soon as they are installed. Sin ravages us all. We must guard against it, confess it, and allow God to fix it.
6.
It is not finished until it looks good. Mary is a decorator, and volunteered her services on this project. Her contributions make it look great, and omitting her work would have left the building unfinished. Churches would do well to remember that their appearances to their communities shape what the community thinks of them.
7.
Balance is critical. Neither opulence nor shabbiness is acceptable in such building. Balance in our lives keeps us from liberalism and legalism, from carnality or “hyper-spirituality”. Jesus was full of grace and truth: balance.