When a Building is not a Building

For many schools, owning their own building is a (the?) measure of security, permanence and stability. Ownership implies that the school will be around for a long time and is in this community as a good and stable neighbor. Many schools design their own building and have the architect design a structure reflecting the values and priorities of the school's mission (see last week's post).

If a school buys a building they may still personalize it to have it conform to the methods and philosophies in its charter.

However, while we do these things, which are good in and of themselves, we need to guard against our own sinful desires to build monuments. Remember the Tower of Babel.

I am not railing against owned buildings. Buildings can pull the school families and the operations together in healthy ways. And, when done in the context of thoughtful stewardship, they can be very positive. In some cases, owning is less costly in cash flow than renting.

However, while capital campaigns can be wonderful for raising resources and support, they are not the answer to every problem.

I am very aware of this as my school, Tall Oaks Classical School, has just moved into a wonderful facility that we are blessed to be able to rent for a reasonable rate from a church who is also committed to Christian education.

Owning a building can be a burden. Think of our own homes. If the government didn't give us an incentive to ownership through the mortgage interest deduction, would we buy? If we didn't expect the value to increase (common these days), would we buy? We have to maintain, insure and upgrade an owned facility. This effort takes significant resources, time and money.

And, if there is a mortgage, how many educational decisions are impacted by the need to service the debt.

We can go on, but a "building is not a building" when it becomes a drain on resources or distraction from the mission to educate children.

As stewardship officers I ask us all to think biblically about each decision we undertake and test it against our school's mission and the Lord's total ownership of the school.