By Vincent Vernay

“Building maintenance: The beauty and utility of a place of worship can be sustained only by an ongoing, careful attention to its upkeep through regular maintenance. Therefore, funds for both general maintenance and capital improvements should be anticipated in every future budget.

“A well-thought-out plan for maintenance that includes a financial component is necessary in the case of existing structures.” (“Built of Living Stones — Art, Architecture and Worship,” U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Preserving parish and school assets is incorporated into the “Diocesan Road Map for Pastoral, Program and Facility Needs.”

Parish and school facilities represent the buildings and infrastructure of the parish property. From the day the buildings are built or the infrastructure installed, they are in a state of decline. The rate of decline is because of many factors, including weather, sunlight, moisture and salt air. The rate of decline and the life expectancy of the parish and school assets are a function of the care provided to preserve the assets. As the condition of an asset continues to deteriorate, so does the cost to restore it.

The following is an example of an actual situation experienced by a parish. The exterior paint of a building was not maintained and over time, the paint began to peel and the wood under the paint began to deteriorate. An investigation of the exterior finishes revealed that one of the first layers of paint may have been an oil based paint containing lead. Because that layer of paint was exposed, repair of the peeling paint and damaged wood required special and costly federal procedures to abate the lead and insure the safety of the workers. If the building had been properly maintained over the years, this significant expense could have been avoided. An estimated $7,000 paint job may actually be an estimated $15,000 job. Routine preventive maintenance would have been minor paint and patching repairs without touching the underlying layers of paint.

So how do we avoid these problems?

Time and talent may be the answer. We have all heard or read of stewardship and time, talent and treasure. All too often, these notions eventually become exclusive discussions about treasure. However, it is time and talent that provide us the answer to preserving our parish assets.

So how do time and talent fit into the picture?

Within the parish community, there is a wide range of highly talented parishioners. The challenge for the pastor is to encourage this pool of talent to offer their time to preserve the parish and school assets. Part of the challenge is providing a clear goal or mission statement to the talent pool so they can understand what is expected.

For example, each parish has been requested to establish a parish planning and building committee. The purpose of the committee is essentially to preserve the parish and school assets and plan upgrades and the expansion of assets to meet the changing needs of the parish and school.

The diocese has published a “Maintenance and Facilities Manual” as a guide to assist the parish planning and building committee in conducting an assessment of the parish, facilities and infrastructure. The assessment of facilities may naturally lead to a list of repair and maintenance work as well as an indication of future significant projects.

Significant projects are part of a forthcoming manual, which will provide guidelines for developing a scope of work, bidding procedures, and standard contracts for architects, consultants and general contractors.

The parish planning and building committee will review their assessment list, prioritize the list, develop a budget for each item, and then a total budget.

The parish now has the beginnings of a plan to preserve their assets. Using the time and talent of skilled members of the parish community, the pastor and the parishioners will then have a picture and basic plan for their facility and infrastructure maintenance needs.