Maintaining your Baptist church

As the custodian of your local church, your job is invaluable, helping to keep the property safe, well-maintained, and sustainable so it can be enjoyed by future generations.

To help address some of the common issues experienced by Baptist churches, we’ve put together a list of maintenance tips for your consideration.

Wear and tear isn’t covered by most insurance policies. Insurance covers events that are sudden and unexpected. As a natural consequence of day-to-day use, wear and tear are inevitable over time and cannot usually be insured.

Keeping your church in a good state of repair can prevent wear and tear from causing serious problems. Make sure your church has a regular programme of routine maintenance throughout the year to address the issues that may result in damage in the future.

Storms, floods, heavy rain, and lightning can all cause damage to your church. Routine maintenance should involve:

• Sign up for the Met Office’s severe weather warnings
• Clear out gutters and downpipes so they do not get blocked
• Secure loose roof tiles
• Make sure lightning conductors are well-maintained and regularly checked by a lightning engineer.

Learn more about protecting your church in bad weather from our advice on:

• Storms
• Floods
• Cold weather.

Fires in churches can start as a result of faulty electrical wiring, candles, heating systems, or building works or repairs. Every church should have a fire risk assessment to identify the risks and put measures in place to mitigate them.

Having working fire alarms is essential both to limit damage to the church and protect the people who use it. Routine maintenance should involve testing fire alarms at your church.

Learn more about fire safety in churches.

Churches are particularly prone to malicious damage and vandalism when they are empty. You can minimise the likelihood of damage to, or theft from, your church by introducing security measures, including:

• Fitting strong locks, installing intruder alarms, and security lighting
• Encouraging visitors during the day so suspicious people or activities are noticed and reported.
• Locking the church building when it is not in use
• Maintaining perimeter walls and railings
• Marking valuable items with a forensic marker, such as SmartWater.

Learn more about church security.

Slips, trips, and falls are a major cause of injuries to volunteers, church members, and visitors alike. Many of these accidents can be prevented by carrying regular maintenance, including:

• Making sure that the edges of carpets, rugs, and doormats are securely fixed down
• Keeping paths clear of fallen leaves and snow, and ice
• Displaying warning signs where appropriate
• Clearing away trip hazards such as cables.

Learn more about slips, trips, and falls.