Headquarters Moves: Ministries Look for the Promised Land

Christian organizations relocate to find milder corporate climates and a better lifestyle for workers.

When Focus on the Family moved its corporate headquarters 1,100 miles from Pomona, California, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, earlier this fall, it took 50 rented moving vans to transport office furniture, computer equipment, phone systems, and file folders. But the move involved much more than packing and unpacking boxes. Months of planning and preparation were required to sell the ministry’s old buildings, lease temporary facilities, and find property for construction of a permanent facility. Ministry work was temporarily disrupted. Millions of dollars were spent. Several hundred employees had to be replaced.

Despite the pitfalls that can accompany a move, dozens of Christian organizations have gone looking for greener corporate pastures in recent years, highlighted by the recent relocation of two of the largest evangelical ministries: Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ, which made a $13 million move from San Bernardino, California, to Orlando, Florida. Within the past three years, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Salvation Army, the Free Methodist Church of North America, Trans World Radio, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Youth for Christ/U.S.A. have all relocated their headquarters.

Although specific reasons vary, ministries’ motives usually boil down to economics as they trade bustling cities for quiet suburban communities. The primary goal is to reduce annual operating costs.

James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family, says his organization’s recent move will ultimately save up to $5 million in annual operating costs, due to more favorable nonprofit tax structures and lower health-care costs in Colorado.

Prior to its move from Nyack, New York, to Colorado Springs in August 1989, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) had to maintain a 40-unit apartment building for staff members who could not afford housing at New York’s steep prices. “When we moved, we sold the apartments,” explains Miles Reese, director of business services. “In Colorado Springs, housing is no longer a problem. So money that used to be tied up in real estate is now freed up for ministry.”

Cost Of Living

Trans World Radio found a larger pool of job applicants when it relocated in July 1990 from New Jersey to Cary, North Carolina. “In New Jersey, it was difficult to get enough applicants, because most qualified Christian people couldn’t afford to work at our pay scale,” says Trans World spokesperson Rosmarie Jaszka, noting that nonprofit Christian organizations typically offer lower wages overall than their secular counterparts. After its $5 million move to Cary, which included the construction of a new building dedicated earlier this fall, Trans World has enjoyed an influx of Christians who want to work for the ministry.

Because the cost of living in Colorado Springs is 29 percent less than in Southern California, Focus employees are enjoying a higher quality of life than the one they left behind. “Our employees [were finding] it extremely difficult to purchase or lease homes in Southern California. The modest salaries we offer are insufficient for many young families in the sky-high [California] market,” Dobson says.

A third reason for relocation is improved efficiency. Prior to its move to Orlando, Campus Crusade’s headquarters had personnel spread through 17 buildings over a seven-mile radius in San Bernardino. The ministry purchased a 150,000-square-foot facility and brought them all under one roof.

The Salvation Army spent $12 million to move its national headquarters from Verona, New Jersey, to Alexandria, Virginia. “We have relationships with several other national organizations in this area. We’ll save a great deal of time and money in travel alone,” explains national chief secretary Col. Kenneth Hood.

Not all ministries, however, are looking for suburban bargains in their moves. For example, the World Ministry Center for the Free Methodist Church of North America exchanged quiet Winona Lake, Indiana, for Indianapolis in February 1990. “Living here helps us be in the mind-frame of the majority of Americans,” says general administrator Dan Wollam, who adds that the ministry moved so staff members could better relate to the people they serve. “I think it’s good for us to ride on the freeway in traffic and hear news reports that prompt us to lock our doors. It’s good to be where we rub shoulders with people of other races and ethnic backgrounds. In a small community like Winona Lake, we didn’t have that opportunity.”

Footing The Bill

Regardless of the benefits, relocating an organization of any size costs money. Some ministries have found help in making the move. A $4 million grant by Colorado Springs’ El Pomar Foundation helped cover Focus’s move, and it will help meet the cost of building new facilities at the Colorado Springs site. Campus Crusade’s costs are being offset by contributions from a committee of Orlando business people. Chaired by Pat Williams, general manager for the Orlando Magic basketball team, the committee has raised $1 million toward a $30 million goal.

Not all ministries have been so fortunate. Unable to sell their properties, some have been forced to maintain two locations. In fact, Campus Crusade continues to use its Arrowhead Springs property as a conference center. The Free Methodist Church leases its Winona Lake property to several retail outlets. Still others are forced to cover costs by taking out low-interest loans, an expense that sooner or later must be covered by donations.

Cross-country moves often cost ministries not only dollars, but employees as well. When Focus on the Family relocated, only 300 of its 720 employees made the move to Colorado Springs. Ministries may offer paid trips for house and church hunting, real-estate seminars, and guided tours of the new locale. Some provide monetary assistance to those who relocate. The Salvation Army gave each employee a 10 percent bonus, whether or not the employee moved. Forty of the Army’s 65 employees relocated.

For those unable or unwilling to make a move, re-entering the job market can be a daunting task. But most ministries appear willing to help. Focus, for example, gave its employees six months’ notice and offered job fairs and résumé-writing workshops before closing the doors on its Pomona facility.

Often forgotten in a move, however, is its impact on the churches, Christian schools, and communities left behind. When Campus Crusade left the San Bernardino area, Trinity Evangelical Free Church in nearby Redlands, heavily attended by Crusade staff, lost more than 10 percent of its congregation. At Banner Elementary School, a Christian school in San Bernardino, enrollment dropped by almost 25 percent.

What cannot be measured is the effect of a ministry’s departure on the city it leaves. Julio Fuentes, city administrator for Pomona, says, “You lose more than consumers with a relocation like this. Having a Christian organization in our community provided a positive influence that won’t be easily replaced.”

By Kathleen Bowling.

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