The Rev. Paul Long never thought much about church hymnals. And other than adding a new book or tape series every week or so, he didn't give the church library much thought either.
Then came the fire.
Early March 3, prior to anyone arriving for church that Sunday morning, Antioch Baptist Church in Chester, S.C., burned. Everything was lost, Long said, from hymnals and choir robes to library books and cafeteria trays.
Like most churches, Antioch was insured. And like most churches, Antioch was underinsured.
Nearly 2,000 churches will burn in a typical year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Of those, only half will have enough insurance to cover all that's lost, the agency reports.
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Taking Inventory There are two kinds of inventories: written and pictorial. The ideal inventory is a written one supported with pictures. Written Inventory Your inventory should contain the following:
Pictorial Inventory Photographing or videotaping your contents is the second option. With these inventories, strive for quality reproduction. Sharp pictures are better than blurry ones, and close-up shots reveal more than those taken at a distance, particularly when you're trying to identify and assess value. No matter which method of inventory you choose, attach or store proofs of purchase with it. These include invoices, canceled checks, bills of sale, credit card receipts or gift records. What to Record Begin by identifying the big-ticket items:
Specialty items -- those of art or rarity -- are also ones you'll want to document. For instance, make note of unusual communion sets, candleholders, crosses or artworks that are not part of the building. Art objects with a value greater than the item's functional value may need special fine-arts coverage. In addition, don't forget smaller items that add up when you have them in quantity. These include:
Continue your inventory of items on a room-by-room basis. Remember to record contents from other facilities, such as a school or maintenance building. Keep two copies of your completed inventory in separate locations. Give your insurance agent a copy and store the other in a fireproof vault, bank lock box or member's home. -- Source: Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company |
Antioch Baptist Church had done what most do -- insured the building based on its property value and its contents based on a small percentage of that. Insurance didn't come close to covering the cost of replacing all contents, Long said, though he declined to give details.
"We had enough to cover the big things, like computer equipment, pews," he said. "We should have spent more time evaluating what it would cost to replace all the other stuff. I never thought choir robes would be so expensive."
Few churches do, according to Dan Book, a senior manager with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. Brotherhood insures more than 30,000 churches in the United States.
"We always tell our customers that they need to take inventory of everything they have, just like you would with a home insurance policy," Book said. "More often than not, they don't heed our advice."
Property inventories, which can be written or pictorial, include descriptions of the property or item, quantity, information on when and where it was published and for how much, and the cost to replace the item new.
Long said although he had been advised to take such an inventory, the church never made it a priority.
"We'd have either had to take the time to do it ourselves or pay to have it done, and we just didn't invest time or money into that," he said.
Most church leaders seeking Randy Forman's assistance with property inventories are doing so before disaster strikes, Forman said.
Forman is senior vice president and chief operating officer of Asset Verification Incorporated (AVI), based in Batavia, Ill.
"It's important that a ministry rebound very quickly from any loss, especially if they have to focus on rebuilding the church," Forman said. "If you don't have the resources to bounce back quickly, your ministry is going to suffer."
Forman said in his experience, most insurance companies use too low a percentage of the church's bricks and mortar value to determine its contents coverage.
"It's woefully too low," he said, "but in defense of the insurance industry, it's much easier to determine the value of bricks and mortar. You can embrace that. Determining appropriate coverage for everything else is a lot more involved if done correctly."
AVI charges 15 cents a square foot for inventory and evaluation of a church's contents. Customers receive a printed line-listing of all contents and a CD with descriptions and digital images of everything inventoried.
Insurance adjustors rely on documented inventories to process claims. Forman said an up-to-date inventory can increase a church's claim by at least 20 percent. By AVI's estimates, fewer than 1 percent of churches have a detailed and current inventory of their possessions.
A team of two AVI representatives usually can cover a 40,000-square-foot church within five business days, Forman said. They count and document everything from Bibles and hymnals to pews, choir robes, offering plates and musical equipment. Annual updates take four to five hours for a church of 1,000 members and cost $150 an hour, Forman said.
"A lot of churches will look at the up-front costs and either decide not to do (an inventory) or put it off to some other time," Forman said. "We're not in the business of using scare tactics, but when disaster strikes, it's too late. Churches find out rather quickly that a little time and effort on the front end can save a lot of heartache later on."
Book agrees. After working in claims for 10 years, Book said he's all too familiar with having to give churches the bad news that they've reached their claims limit and can't afford to replace all that was lost.
"Put together an inventory, even if it's nothing more than a list of items on a yellow legal pad," Book said. "The worst thing you can do is nothing."
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In addition to detailed property inventories, Asset Verification Inc. performs valuations and certified appraisals to determine whether special insurance -- such as fine-arts coverage -- is needed. AVI also assists churches with asset management, which includes a customized database of capital assets tracked by barcode labels on the individual items. AVI is a member of the National Association of Church Business Administration and reduces its $3,500 charge for its asset management program to $1,750 for NACBA members. AVI is also putting together a financing program for its services. |
"The last thing we want to have to do is tell a church their insurance wasn't enough to cover their losses," he said.
Michael Thurman, pastor of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., has been encouraging fellow pastors to follow his lead in inventorying their churches' contents.
"Nobody wants to concern themselves with taking stock of hymnals, Bibles, pews and other frivolous items that make sacred places sacred," said Thurman, who had AVI inventory his church.
Antioch Baptist Church broke ground in early November for a new worship center. Donations, collected a few dollars at a time, are helping cover the costs of hymnals and other items that would have been covered under insurance if the church had done an inventory, Long said.
"Looking back, having an inventory done doesn't seem like such a waste of time and money," he said.
