Wayne Welch prides himself on rapid response, jumping on issues when they’re first reported.

The longtime Triad Baptist Church member and business owner now has a job where the sheer size of the responsibility demands that skill even more.

On May 15, he became the latest head of the church’s facilities team — charged with keeping Triad’s growing campus clean, secure, and functioning to support all of its ministries.

He follows full-time maintenance director Tim Shoaf who retired in January after more than seven years on the job. Norm Dudley held the post on an interim basis until Shoaf’s replacement could be found.

“A church of this size and ministries and outlook and community reach has to have a facilities team like ours,” Welch says. “This church never sleeps. Whether it’s a wedding, or a service, or a class meeting, or a sports camp, or some other activity, there’s a constant need that our facilities operate smoothly and efficiently so that God’s work is done well.

“When someone comes in the doors for any event, I want them to come into a place that looks fresh, clean and inviting,” he says. “That’s very important.

“I’m the kind of person that when I get a request, I want to go and look at it right then and there and want to keep that energy going,” Welch adds. “A lot of times you can get passive in a job. I want everything that comes in to be considered as important as the last thing in terms of the urgency to assess and respond.”

Welch and his wife, Terresi, joined Triad Baptist in 1994. They have held a host of ministry positions at the church since. Preschool parents know Wayne as the first (and now one of) the leaders of “Toddler Time,” a children’s church for those not yet old enough for the Kids Street Worship Center services.

But he and Terresi have led several generations of youth as lay leaders in youth ministry, too. All the while, Welch has run a successful landscaping business, Pine Enterprises, as a small businessman. The couple who have been married for 21 years and have three children and four grandchildren.

This past year, kidney stones and the discovery of a growth on one of his kidneys — subsequently removed by surgery — combined with other factors to encourage Welch to seek the maintenance position.

He still owns the landscaping business but turned over the day-to-day responsibilities to an employee.

“Since we had been at the church a long time, I felt like I knew Triad and how it was run and felt God’s encouragement for me to branch out into another field so applied for the position here,” Welch says. “I’m so glad I did. I love the people, the church staff, the Triad Baptist Christian Academy and Preschool staff and the team of people I manage — Donna Bostick, Andy Bousman, Brandon Greene and Dan Nigro.

“It’s just been a great experience, and I’m taking this first year learning more about the day-to-day business of the church and settling into the position so it runs smoothly and efficiently.”

Welch works under the church’s executive staff.

Important transitions

In addition to making sure the church’s mammoth heating and air conditioning units, walk-in freezer and refrigerators and other equipment are in working order, and supervising the commercial cleaning crew Triad uses, one of the most important jobs Welch’s team does is setting up and tearing down its spaces.

The church’s multi-used philosophy for facilities couldn’t happen if a Sunday School class didn’t quickly become a classroom before Monday during the Triad Baptist Christian Academy school year. And Sunday worship services wouldn’t be possible if that space couldn’t be quickly adjusted from worship to gym or other event and back and forth.

“It’s our job to make sure each room is clean and ready and the transition is seamless,” Welch says.

How you can help

Welch says the best way church members can help his team is to report issues as soon as they’re known.

“If you see something broke or that is not working tell me,” he says. “I can’t fix it if I don’t know about it. If you spot something out of the norm, just let us know.”

On mission

Welch says the same openness and warmth that first attracted him to Triad is the same quality that has drawn countless others to become members and also love others and share the gospel. He considers his team a natural extension of that effort.

“Our work is an important part of the church’s ministry to point lives toward Christ,” Welch says. “Our mission is to do everything we do to the glory of God. Everything we’re about is for God’s praise and so people can come in and serve Him and change lives.”