H E L P I N G L E A D E R S B E C O M E B E T T E R S T E W A R D S .

Presented by:

Screenfl ex Portable Room Dividers

Stewardship of Space

CHURCH EXECUTIVE • STEWARDSHIP OF SPACE 2 churchexecutive.com

Table of Contents

DO YOU REALLY NEED TO BUILD? WHEN DIVVYING UP YOUR EXISTING SPACE MAKES SENSE 3As your church finds itself in need of more ministry space, a new building might seem like a logical solution. But, in the interest of stewardship, it pays to consider whether or not an existing space can be reimagined instead.

TAKE THE LONG-TERM VIEW 4Portable room dividers are essential equipment for any church —especially growing churches. They’re forever useful as a church’s ministry offerings — and physical campus — expand. So, they should last a long, long time.

That kind of longevity doesn’t come cheap … or without careful, considered selection.

TRIED-AND-TRUE MAINTENANCE BEST PRACTICESComing in October 2016

COMPELLING CHURCH CASE STUDIESComing in December 2016

STEWARDSHIP OF SPACE • CHURCH EXECUTIVE 3churchexecutive.com

Pastor Tim Mengle of Crystal Lake Vinyard Church (Crystal Lake, IL) talks how his congregation maximizes its partitions

Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO, needed 20 Sunday school classrooms. Portable room dividers delivered the outcome the church wanted, at a fraction of the cost of traditional construction.

Do you really need to build?When divvying up your existing space makes more senseBy Rich Maas

As your church finds itself in need of more ministry space, a new building might seem like a logical solution. But, in the interest of stewardship, it pays to consider whether or not an existing space can be reimagined instead.

Many churches have opted to divide the facilities they have to accommodate growth — but, how can you know that will be sufficient at your own church?

Start with the growth outlookKnowing how to move forward is really a function of the amount of

additional ministry space needed and the amount of space available to accommodate anticipated growth.

When massive growth of 40 percent or more is expected, nuts-and-bolts construction or facility renovation might indeed be in order. After all, you can’t have people stepping over each other. So, while the good news is that the ministry is growing, your church probably does need to get out the shovels.

On the other hand, projected growth of 10 percent to 30 percent can very often be accommodated with the efficient use of existing space.

Cost savings potentialHaving spent considerable time in the church marketplace — and

based on some general church construction marketplace statistics — our company can offer some ballpark figures for traditional construction or expansion projects based on scope and size:

Sanctuary Capacity Floor Space Probable Construction Cost

100-seat 2,000 square feet $290,000500-seat 12,000 square feet $1.48 million1,250-seat 24,000 square feet $2.6 million2,000-seat 42,000 square feet $4.2 million5,000-seat 90,000 square feet $8.8 million

Take, for example, Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO. This 20-classroom project — in a 7,800-square-foot space — was completed by our team about 10 years ago, predominantly with dividers from our Portable Classroom line [ screenflex.com/products/portable-classroom/ ]. A project architect actually referred church leaders to our company. Most clients would simply require the necessary linear footage of acoustical portable dividers to create the 20 classrooms. This could be accomplished at the time for an investment of roughly only $30,000.

However, not only did this church need to create 20 Sunday school classroom areas, but it also needed some other furnishings common to a classroom — storage space for teaching material, a marker board and, of course, a work surface area for the teacher. These features made the necessary dividers more useful (but also a bit more expensive) than a more basic model.

Even so, the investment paled in comparison to the cost of traditional construction, which church leaders also considered.

In this case, the classrooms would only be used part-time; so nuts-and-bolts construction didn’t make the best financial sense. Instead, church leaders invested $50,000 in room dividers. So, they not only saved money but made more efficient use of their space, all while achieving their ministry objective of 20 classrooms.

Another financial consideration is future expansion. When the time does come for a new facility, these same dividers can be rolled over to the new building.

Surveying your space — does division make sense?Over the years, our team has learned that certain facilities on a church

campus are more “divisible” than others. Large, open spaces such as gymnasiums, as well as fellowship halls / family life centers, are usually excellent candidates. Churches often outgrow their original worship space — but, they certainly won’t knock them down. Instead, they’ll repurpose them.

Ceiling height is also important. Many gymnasiums have high or sloped ceilings; in these spaces, floor-to-ceiling room dividers simply won’t work. In spaces like these, portable room dividers represent a more flexible, cost-effective solution.

Don’t get me wrong: Floor-to-ceiling room dividers can work wonderfully in spaces with 8- or 10-foot ceilings. Here, they create honest-to-goodness “walls.” Plus, the church also enjoys better sound absorbency.

The downside is that they’re very expensive and not very flexible. You can move them one way or another, but you can’t move them to be useful in another part of the church — or even three feet this way or that way — because they’re built into the building.

Ministry happens hereFrom small group classes, to Sunday school spaces, to nurseries and

childcare areas, thoughtfully dividing an existing space is just good stewardship — good ministry and use of funds. Many of our thoughtful customers use the same portable dividers for Sunday school classrooms on Sunday; childcare during weekdays; and bible study and other programs in the evenings and on Saturdays.

Dividing up the space you have creates smaller, more intimate areas for private ceremonies, including baby showers, wedding showers, funerals, or even private areas for nursing mothers.

It’s also a good option for churches meeting in adaptive reuse settings — former retail stores or warehouses, for example. (And really, what other practical ways exist to easily subdivide these types of areas? Answer: none!)

Thoughtful division is truly “stewardship of space.”

Rich Maas is vice president at Screenflex Portable Room Dividers [ www.screenflex.com ] in Lake Zurich, IL.

CHURCH EXECUTIVE • STEWARDSHIP OF SPACE 4 churchexecutive.com

By Rich Maas

Portable room dividers are essential equipment for any church – especially growing churches. They’re forever useful as a church’s ministry offerings — and physical campus — expand. So, they should last a long, long time.

That kind of longevity doesn’t come cheap … or without careful, considered selection.

Many church leaders have never purchased portable room dividers. To that end, they’re not always sure what kind of investment these valuable ministry tools represent.

To provide a framework, we’ll use our company’s three different room dividers lines — all made in America — as examples: light-duty, all-purpose, and heavy-duty.

While heavy-duty dividers are beyond what churches require, all-purpose dividers are extremely popular among church clients. We offer 36 sizes in this line, from 4 feet high and almost 6 feet long up to 8 feet high and just over 24 feet long. After customary discounts are applied, investments begin at roughly $500 for our smallest all-purpose divider. Our most popular sizes are 6 feet high and approximately 17 feet and 20 feet in length. After discounts, these range from $1,200 to $1,400 apiece.

Light-duty dividers (as their name implies) have fewer bells and whistles, and not as many fabric choices. These start at $400 each after discounts at 6-feet-5-inches high x approximately 6 feet long.

So, as you can see, portable room dividers aren’t a small investment — but, a properly built divider is intended to last a lifetime. To this end — and in the interest of the best possible stewardship — longevity should be No. 1 on the list of selection criteria.

To ensure you are getting not only the quality, but also the correct dividers you need, we offer a complete — and free —planning service. Simply tell us the size of the room you will be using the dividers in most of the time, and what you want to accomplish. We will send you a plan in both 2-D and 3-D which you can review with your committee members.

OK — but, what does a long-lasting portable room divider look like?To answer that, let’s start with what they don’t look like.Many years ago — when my brother was in the church design and

construction business — he was visiting a client in Wisconsin. They invested in T-leg panels (common in offices) because “the price was right.” He noticed that four or five were leaning up against the wall after their “feet” broke off; they were awaiting repair by a local welder.

Suddenly, the price looked a lot less … “right.”And really, this is the most common mistake church leaders make

when investing in portable room dividers: buying cheap. It’s no different than buying a car or a house. To make the best long-term investment, you do your homework, you check out the products, and you — ultimately — realize that quality will cost you a few more bucks. In return, you will get more value for your church’s dollars.

Interesting … but I still need to know what to look for Good point. When vetting divider options, pay special attention to a handful of critical structural components:

Connections, connections, connections. The longer a divider’s hinges between the panels, and the more screws used to connect that hinge to each panel, the stronger it will be in the long term. For our most popular-height divider — 6 feet — we use 34 screws and a full-length hinge to connect two panels together. (Yes: 34!)

In contrast, cheaper dividers feature only one geared connection at the top and bottom of each panel pair.

Position controller. As depicted (right), this rounded device helps keep the divider in place at any angle. It also “locks” in place at common 90- and 180-degree settings. You’ll see we use four screws to keep that position controller firmly affixed to the panels. The full-length hinges mentioned above and the position controllers work in conjunction with each other. We make these components ridiculously strong because it’s this spot where dividers most commonly wear out. (People aren’t always gentle with things.)

End frame connectors. In the image (left), you’ll see the black, sleekly curved end frame which not only gives the divider much of its stability but also is used as a very convenient handle to move the divider. The means by which the end frame is connected to the panel set is critical, since this connection must absorb the twisting, turning, grabbing and pulling as the divider is moved within the church, over thresholds and so on.

Accordingly, a well-built, long-lasting divider will have all three of these connections: 1) The panel will actually be inserted into the end frame;

2) This panel / end frame combination will be screwed together from both sides for superior strength; and 3) A gusset plate will be added at the bottom, connecting the two members yet a third way. These important connections can be seen in this short video.

Do you want your new dividers to serve you for years and years? Make sure any portable dividers you invest in are connected in this fashion.

Self-leveling casters. For enhanced stability, our dividers feature self-leveling casters. Have you ever sat at a wobbly table because one leg wasn’t touching the ground? This happens on room dividers that have fixed-height casters. Our dividers are never wobbly or unstable, because every wheel

makes full contact with the floor. These ‘What to look for’ features can be seen in this short video.

The proof is in the purchase order We believe that repeat business is the biggest indicator that our quality

design approach is working, long-term. Many church and school clients — or, as is often the case, a combination of both — order additional room dividers from us as their ministries and facilities expand.

Taking Phoenix as an example, we have many customers that fit this description. Several have bought twice. Another customer bought in 2007, 2010 and 2015. Another church has re-ordered five times.

In the same city, one school district has bought from us on eight different occasions since 1999, and another has bought on 10 different occasions. If you’d like the list — or a list for your local area — let me know. We are proud of our loyal customer base.

To us, this is the biggest testament to our products’ longevity. After all, would you order more of something that didn’t work the first time?

Rich Maas is vice president at Screenflex Portable Room Dividers [ www.screenflex.com ] in Lake Zurich, IL.

TAKE THE LONG–TERM