Cleaning Church Buildings

[Tacenda]

Im not sure, I thought they had a company deep clean the whole building once a year. Maybe it is just the floors.

I'll bet they do that, not sure. It's a good thing if they do! Though I'm pretty amazed that the members do as well as the janitors did and impressed by it! Edited February 23, 2013 by Tacenda

[Saints Alive]

The Church built another one?! That's it! I'm sick to death of having my hard-earned tithing dollars squandered on big show projects! I'm leaving! Will the last person to leave the Church of Jesus Christ please turn out the lights?!

Who said they built another one? Isn't one enough?

[3DOP]

I feel for whomever is in charge of this. So many times it falls on them and their families to do the job. Why did the church lay off the paid janitors? Was it that they thought the members of the church needed one more service? It's always the same people over and over that get stuck with jobs in the church because they'll do it. I'm sorry but I had to rant on this. When will the leaders see that this is being overextending?

We have a rotation so that nobody should have to do it more than six times a year. Our problem is that the cleaners are always getting pregnant. They whine about how they need a month before and after the baby comes and they get away with out cleaning for one, sometimes even two turns! How sweet is that deal?

Could this explain why Catholics and Mormons always have so many crying babies everywhere? Maybe people are trying to get out of cleaning the church?

Edited February 23, 2013 by 3DOP

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I feel for whomever is in charge of this. So many times it falls on them and their families to do the job. Why did the church lay off the paid janitors? Was it that they thought the members of the church needed one more service? It's always the same people over and over that get stuck with jobs in the church because they'll do it. I'm sorry but I had to rant on this. When will the leaders see that this is being overextending?

Her or she will ask those whom she, believeve won't complain...when all are they wii play to their strengths.

[Kenngo1969]

Who said they built another one? Isn't one enough?

You just said they built another one. I was completely unaware of ... and I mean totally blindsided by ... this Cedar Creek Center! The other one was bad enough ... I'm sure that a lot of people's testimonies are going to be tried by the new one! Do you have a link to the plans for the Cedar Creek Center? Yeesh! How many high-end malls can one relatively sparsely populated urban area support? What do they think this is, New York or LA?

[Tacenda]

You just said they built another one. I was completely unaware of ... and I mean totally blindsided by ... this Cedar Creek Center! The other one was bad enough ... I'm sure that a lot of people's testimonies are going to be tried by the new one! Do you have a link to the plans for the Cedar Creek Center? Yeesh! How many high-end malls can one relatively sparsely populated urban area support? What do they think this is, New York or LA?

Don't get me started on the semi new multi million dollar hotel in Hawaii the church built or I'm gonna threadjack my own thread! Edited February 23, 2013 by Tacenda

[Saints Alive]

You just said they built another one. I was completely unaware of ... and I mean totally blindsided by ... this Cedar Creek Center! The other one was bad enough ... I'm sure that a lot of people's testimonies are going to be tried by the new one! Do you have a link to the plans for the Cedar Creek Center? Yeesh! How many high-end malls can one relatively sparsely populated urban area support? What do they think this is, New York or LA?

Ok you've lost me, I never said the church built another mall (i.e. more than one) in any case Tacenda is right, lets get back on topic.

[Tacenda]

Ok you've lost me, I never said the church built another mall (i.e. more than one) in any case Tacenda is right, lets get back on topic.

It's ok, I was kidding. But just came back from cleaning the church and guess what? A big glob of gum was imbedded in the carpet, this is probably where there's a need for a janitor to monitor the situation because I really don't want/know how to tackle it. Edited February 23, 2013 by Tacenda

[Calm]

Could this explain why Catholics and Mormons always have so many crying babies everywhere? Maybe people are trying to get out of cleaning the church?

Yeah, that must be it.

[Calm]

It's ok, I was kidding. But just came back from cleaning the church and guess what? A big glob of gum was imbedded in the carpet, this is probably where there's a need for a janitor to monitor the situation because I really don't want/know how to tackle it.

There should be a spray available that freezes the gum and then you scrap it out of the carpet.

I learned this from one summer of cleaning out the Varsity Theatre every morning during the week. I loved Monday morning since they had the other cleaners in on Saturday night to prepare for church on Sunday, but that is when I had to do things like scrap off embedded gum and such that I didn't have time for on the regular week days.

[Kenngo1969]

Neither Hawaii Reserve nor City Creek Reserve (nor any of the other "Reserves") is "the Church," per se. If you think the Church of Jesus Christ would better be able to fulfill its missions by divesting itself of all of its commercial interests, we'll have to agree to disagree about that.

[ERayR]

Why fire the janitors then? We use to clean the ward but not the deep cleaning, (toilets etc.).

Back in the days a long time ago when a branch I know used to meet in a rented hall and they had to take turns getting there early to clean up the beer bottles and sweep up the cigarette butts before meeting. Deep cleaning wot?

Edited February 24, 2013 by ERayR

[Kenngo1969]

Ok you've lost me, I never said the church built another mall (i.e. more than one) in any case Tacenda is right, lets get back on topic.

For the record, I was exploiting (unfairly, perhaps, but it was just a cheap attempt to get laughs, so sue me! ) your apparent confusion between the Cedar Creek Center and the City Creek Center.

[Saints Alive]

For the record, I was exploiting (unfairly, perhaps, but it was just a cheap attempt to get laughs, so sue me! ) your apparent confusion between the Cedar Creek Center and the City Creek Center.

gotcha, thanks for pointing that out.

[The Nehor]

Who said they built another one? Isn't one enough?

That is what Emperor Palpatine thought and then when the first ine broke he had to build another death star. Learn from history.

[Saints Alive]

That is what Emperor Palpatine thought and then when the first ine broke he had to build another death star. Learn from history.

So you're saying the church is building another one

[Petey3]

I lived in a ward for a while where the whole process was uber organized. They had the building divided into differant zones and each assigned family was gived a zone to clean. It really made the job easy and the church was perfect every week. And yes we were all assigned by a brother in the ward who was given the calling.

[bluebell]

In my experience, it really all depends on how the ward organizes the cleaning.

I've been in a ward where the person in charge would ask for a volunteer family every week to clean. It was a disaster because no one ever wanted to volunteer to be the one family in charge of cleaning for the whole week. At the time, it was just my husband and me and two kids under 4 and i know i never volunteered to spend three hours cleaning the church by ourselves (and it was a huge building with a second floor).

Our ward right now get's families signed up ahead of time, but then does not organize anything beyond that. No one calls the families to remind them, no one is in charge of having a key to make sure they can get into the building. Given the state of the building on most Sundays, it seems to be a disaster as well. I know when it was our week to clean we were all set to go-i made a point of marking it down and making a mental note-but honestly, after we left church that day i completely forgot about it and the thought did not cross my mind again for more than a week that we missed our day. I felt really bad about it but there wasn't anything to be done at that point.

The best ward i've been in had the ward directory divided into four groups, with every group having a number and one family in each group 'in charge'. During the month the ward was responsible every group was assigned a week and the family in charge called to let you know what day and time the cleaning would be happening. There were always 10 or so active people in each group (not counting children) who could be there and the cleaning always happened very easily and completely and did not take more than an hour to complete. I loved that ward.

When cleaning the building does not go smoothly, i blame the bishopric for failing to make sure that the effort it is organized and affective. It's really not that hard to figure out whether or not a system is working and to simply change it if it's not. I know bishoprics have their hands full but when something is failing in the ward and nothing is changing, they are the only ones who can fix it. It doesn't even seem like it would have to be that big of a deal-just a quick word to the person is charge letting them know that the system needs to change, tell them to ask around in different wards to see what's working for them, and then implement something new to see if it fixes the problem.

Edited February 26, 2013 by bluebell

[Duncan]

In my experience, it really all depends on how the ward organizes the cleaning.

I've been in a ward where the person in charge would ask for a volunteer family every week to clean. It was a disaster because no one ever wanted to volunteer to be the one family in charge of cleaning for the whole week. At the time, it was just my husband and me and two kids under 4 and i know i never volunteered to spend three hours cleaning the church by ourselves (and it was a huge building with a second floor).

Our ward right now get's families signed up ahead of time, but then does not organize anything beyond that. No one calls the families to remind them, no one is in charge of having a key to make sure they can get into the building. Given the state of the building on most Sundays, it seems to be a disaster as well. I know when it was our week to clean we were all set to go-i made a point of marking it down and making a mental note-but honestly, after we left church that day i completely forgot about it and the thought did not cross my mind again for more than a week that we missed our day. I felt really bad about it but there wasn't anything to be done at that point.

The best ward i've been in had the ward directory divided into four groups, with every group having a number and one family in each group 'in charge'. During the month the ward was responsible every group was assigned a week and the family in charge called to let you know what day and time the cleaning would be happening. There were always 10 or so active people in each group (not counting children) who could be there and the cleaning always happened very easily and completely and did not take more than an hour to complete. I loved that ward.

When cleaning the building does not go smoothly, i blame the bishopric for failing to make sure that the effort it is organized and affective. It's really not that hard to figure out whether or not a system is working and to simply change it if it's not. I know bishoprics have their hands full but when something is failing in the ward and nothing is changing, they are the only ones who can fix it. It doesn't even seem like it would have to be that big of a deal-just a quick word to the person is charge letting them know that the system needs to change, tell them to ask around in different wards to see what's working for them, and then implement something new to see if it fixes the problem.

Oh Man! Our ward is set up like the second example you presented. The ward is split into four or so groups, one person is a captain and they call to remind everyone and we have a sheet to fill out what needs to be done and then what was done. It flows smoothly. Sometimes not all the members can meet on the sat. morn. so if they can't they just come whenever and just sign off on the sheet what they did so we don't duplicate our efforts. In saying that in our group is a couple who needlessly complicate things but they show up on friday and do it themselves so no one has to get involved in their you know whatever!

[cinepro]

Ahhh....the popular "Every Member a Janitor" program.

A few years ago, we had a wealthy RS President who just had her two maids come in and clean the building when it was the Relief Society's turn to clean. I guess whatever works...?

But now that you mention the mall, maybe the Church could just pay the janitors with non-tithing funds? That way it doesn't become a burden on the sacred tithing funds of the Church, but it still provides employment for some people (usually Church members who really needed it, from what I saw).

[3DOP]

I lived in a ward for a while where the whole process was uber organized. They had the building divided into differant zones and each assigned family was gived a zone to clean. It really made the job easy and the church was perfect every week. And yes we were all assigned by a brother in the ward who was given the calling.

Petey3, hi.

So did each of the families with a zone have a key? Did they all clean at the same time? Each of the families then had no more than 15 to 30 minutes cleanup time every week?

Thanks.

[Garden Girl]

I agree... when it's organized correctly, the cleaning is quick and efficient. Our "team" approach works well and is always on a Saturday morning. We get a call to remind us... the actual cleaning takes about an hour... so for me, my time requirement is about an hour once every ten weeks... Big deal...

GG

[Tacenda]

Sad to say that the same guy got stuck cleaning all the windows that had done it the week before. Usually we have families with children that love doing that part. It's just an off month I guess. But I do think it worked better when people signed up. Our HP are in charge of delegating it for 3 months and our EQ the next 3 months and then the other wards do the other months. So not bad I guess.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Tacenda

[Kenngo1969]

At the risk of derailing the thread (PM me or start a new thread if you like), for those of you who feel there is not enough transparency in the Church of Jesus Christ with respect to how it uses (the Lord's?! ) funds, and that, potentially, tithes and offerings are going to support ventures overseen by its various Reserves (i.e., Hawai'i Reserve, City Creek Reserve, et cetera): If tax-related hanky-panky were going on, and if the charitable funds taken in by the Church of Jesus Christ and the various Reserves were being impermissibly commingled ... Why hasn't anyone blown the whistle, and/or why hasn't the IRS uncovered such shenanigans? The IRS certainly isn't any kind of a shrinking violet when it comes to going after even rank-and-file taxpayers (or tax-shirkers, as the case may be), so ... Why is the IRS passing up a golden opportunity to go after a multibillion dollar corporation?

[Tacenda]

At the risk of derailing the thread (PM me or start a new thread if you like), for those of you who feel there is not enough transparency in the Church of Jesus Christ with respect to how it uses (the Lord's?! ) funds, and that, potentially, tithes and offerings are going to support ventures overseen by its various Reserves (i.e., Hawai'i Reserve, City Creek Reserve, et cetera): If tax-related hanky-panky were going on, and if the charitable funds taken in by the Church of Jesus Christ and the various Reserves were being impermissibly commingled ... Why hasn't anyone blown the whistle, and/or why hasn't the IRS uncovered such shenanigans? The IRS certainly isn't any kind of a shrinking violet when it comes to going after even rank-and-file taxpayers (or tax-shirkers, as the case may be), so ... Why is the IRS passing up a golden opportunity to go after a multibillion dollar corporation?

I actually looked into the Hawaii Reserves Hotel, because I had mentioned it above, and read a little history about it. Apparently it was built to replace an old decrepit one. In fact one of the presidents of the church was staying there when a huge rat ran across the floor! I'm not near the internet to read it again to give detail. So it was definitely needed for visiting LDS leaders to stay in. I know for years the church has been audited and eveything has been on the up and up. I think most members trust their tithing is used appropriately. I think it's definitely sacred funds and don't think the church would do anything unlawful.