Update on Living Word Lutheran Church...

March 2010 Update:

On Tuesday, February 16, our Voters’ Assembly voted to accept the recommendation of our Building Committee to not move the Good Shepherd building, but proceed with plans to erect a build-new structure the this spring / summer. The Committee will meet again to discuss a couple of floor-plan options.

If you haven’t done so yet, please let the Building Committee know how you can help with our building project:
 

Building Project Sub-Committees I’d Be Willing to Serve On..

· Prayer - coordinating efforts to keep us praying together

· Publicity - communicate to the public and the congregation

· Decorating/Landscaping - making building/grounds look inviting

· Fundraising - enlisting continued support of the members

· Financing - working with our district and with lenders

· Space Utilization - coming up with ways to use the building to reach our community during the week

· Coordinating labor - keeping lists of volunteers and contacting them when their help is needed.
 

Building Tasks I Can Help With...

Framing inside walls

Siding

Roofing

Painting

Sheetrock hanging, mudding and taping

Excavating

Landscaping

Helping with electrical wiring

Helping with plumbing

Helping install heating ducts

Clean-Up

Other

January 2010 Update:

Building Committee Proposal   1-27-10

History of Building Plans

The building project "So That The World May Know!" began in the spring of 2007 with fundraising pledges from congregation members. The steps needed to begin construction were outlined and in the fall of 2007 the congregation drafted wish lists of features for the new building. The Building Committee was formed in the spring of 2008. The first order of business by the committee was to select an architect. After conducting interviews of potential architects, Rand Shaper was selected. The Building Committee and Mr. Shaper worked together to incorporate the features desired by the congregation into a finished design. The first design proposed by Mr. Shaper was a 100' x 60' structure costing $795,000. The committee rejected this design and cutbacks were made in order to reduce the cost. The result was a second design with a simplified roofline and fewer interior walls. The 100' x 60' dimensions remained the same, but the cost was reduced to $396,000 for the 6000 sq ft. structure. At $66.00 per square foot, the building was extremely inexpensive. However, the Building Committee and the Mission and Ministry Team deemed the resulting $2000+ per month mortgage payment unaffordable. At that point, the building project could not proceed without a significant increase to the building fund or unless some other alternative was found. The Building Committee had 'hit a wall' and prayed for guidance.

An Alternative is discovered

In early August of 2009, two ladies from the congregation, separate from each other, saw an ad in the paper for a church building for sale. On August 9th, eight members of the congregation made the 60-mile trip to view the building belonging to Good Shepherd Lutheran. The members reported their findings in a meeting on August 12th, which resulted in a follow-up visit to the building on the 16th. The unforeseen possibility of moving an existing church building to our 7 1/2 acres of land had a noticeable energizing effect on our congregation as evidenced by the highly attended Building Committee meetings which followed. Much discussion centered on the advantages and disadvantages of moving the existing building as compared to new construction. At this point, there was clearly a "fork in the road" and much prayer was devoted to discerning God's guidance on how best to proceed. Although there were no lightning flashes of divine revelation, there were many small signs that kept pointing us in the direction of further investigation into moving the existing building. For instance, Good Shepherd offered us the building for free and they also agreed to cover the cost of filling in the basement after the building was moved. Newsletter updates and Circuit District updates seeking assistance resulted in no volunteer help or financial offerings. It was during this time the Building Committee decided to focus on the moving option. God had placed the existing church building in front of us for a reason and we elected to proceed along that path until God re-directed us, put up a roadblock or made it happen.

To Move a Building

The Building Committee now focused on the task of developing a plan and determining the cost of moving the existing church building to our land. Written bids were obtained from at least three contractors each for excavating, masonry, well, septic, plumbing, heating and electrical work. The two moving companies capable of doing the job were also interviewed and asked to submit bids. The committee then compared bids, sought additional information when needed and invited some contractors to attend meetings to answer questions and clarify bids. The committee then selected the bids that offered the most for the best price. The bid totals are listed below.
 

Moving $41,225

Moving - electrical $73,200

Well $8,200

Excavating $18,507

Septic $6,835

Electrical $25,810

Masonry $25,692

Heating $23,972

Plumbing $14,775

Basement $14,312

Wheelchair Lift $12,000

Total $264,528
 

City building inspector Jim Solheid and Werder Home Inspections, Inc inspected the building. Both reported the structure to be very well built and well maintained. It is worth noting that this church was built to replace a structure destroyed by a tornado. As a result, it is of very solid construction. The inspections revealed nothing that would cause the project to halt. In fact each gave very complementary reports.

In addition to determining the building costs, the Building Committee invited Pastor Dave Strohschein, Mission Facilitator and George Miller, LCEF Rep. from the Minnesota North District to review our progress and calculate the loan amount that would be available. It was determined that a $117,000 15-year loan would result in a monthly payment of $800. This would allow us to achieve a total expense of $1,210 per month when including utilities and other costs. Our present monthly cost is $1,210 per month, and this has been determined to be the maximum we are willing to take on. At present, we have $64,540 in our building fund. We were also recently informed that the Good Shepherd board has voted to give us $10,000 towards the project. This results in a grand total of $191,540 available for the building project.

Attractions of the Building

The building is a ready-to-go church complete with pews, stained glass windows, hand made light fixtures and a complete kitchen. It has many character features such as hardwood oak floors and a bell tower that we would never be able to afford building new. The structure is very solid and has been lovingly maintained. The traditional "country church" style ties in with our traditional biblical teaching in a time when churches change to fit the present culture. Moving the building will gain much free publicity and attention from the local community. This will help "put us on the map" and promote community goodwill and enthusiasm. It is notable that within our congregation, the building got us moving again and renewed excitement for the building project.

The Flip Side

The Building Committee realizes that moving the existing building is not a perfect solution and many concerns need to be addressed.

There are accessibility issues, since the building would have a main floor and a basement level. The plan is to eliminate any steps when entering the main level of the church by lowering the structure to ground level on the new foundation. The building will feature a walkout basement and a drive-up main level. There will also be a wheelchair lift located inside the church and an outside sidewalk ramp from the main entrance to the walkout basement. A bathroom will also be added on the first floor.

Another concern is the energy cost to heat and cool the building. The building inspection revealed an R38-R44 insulating value for the attic, which is suggested in modern construction and R11 in the walls. The furnaces will be 93% efficient units with all new ductwork to ensure good air distribution. There are ceiling fans in both the upstairs and in the basement of the church. They appear to be very up-to-date, and would not need to be replaced. The existing windows are single pane, but can be fitted with removable interior storm panes during the winter months. It is also planned to install baseboard heating in office areas so the heat can be turned down in unused areas during the week.

It should be noted that the building features a slate roof. It has been estimated that the roof will last for many, many years. The concern is that slate roofs are more difficult to maintain and repair, as they require someone familiar with slate material. Currently the Building Committee is looking for a local company capable of servicing this type of roof.

There are other cosmetic issues. The ceiling in the sanctuary is noticeably dirty with considerable soot from the existing fuel oil furnace and would need to be painted. The exterior is in need of some sort of cosmetic freshening in order to retain the country-church look while not appearing old. The lighting in the sanctuary is dimmer than is desirable, so lighting would need to be added to brighten things up.

Our Recommendation

Throughout the process your Building Committee committed their efforts to much prayer and the seeking of God's will. One result is that we get a definite sense that God is prompting us to get into a building of our own in the very near future. On Wednesday, January 20, in the prayer time prior to our building meeting we prayed specifically for God to make his will regarding moving the Good Shepherd building so obvious that we couldn't miss it. To that point we had received all the bids for expenses except the one that was the biggest unknown - the charges to take down power lines for the move. We were told to expect a cost somewhere between $20,000 and $45,000. When the actual estimates came in totaling $73,200 the committee felt that God had answered our prayer and had made it obvious that He was putting up a roadblock to moving the Good Shepherd building. (Prior to that estimate the Committee had been leaning in the direction of recommending moving the building). That final cost figure put the building-move project into a price range where it no longer compared favorably to a single-level, build-from-the-ground-up project.

The Next Step

At the same time as we recommend foregoing the Good Shepherd building move, we also recommend moving forward quickly with plans for a new, single-level structure that can be erected this spring/summer at a cost that makes sense. The first step in this project will be enlisting feedback from members and friends about what assistance each person could provide in such a project. (e.g. Help with framing; sheet-rocking; landscaping; painting; design; aesthetics, publicity, etc...) Please pray about how you can help, then let your building committee know.

Above All

We must all remember that name of this project “So That The World May Know” is our ultimate goal. Buildings - new or old - are never the goal of a Christian congregation. Buildings exist only to serve as a home-base that a church family uses as they seek to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the world and make disciples for Him. When we get into a building - and we will - our ultimate goal of letting the world know about Jesus will continue.

We thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Your Living Word Building Committee

November 2009 Update:

Living Word Lutheran Mission - Building Update

After spending the better part of the past year making plans to erect a building on our 7 ½ acres between New London and Spicer, the Lord has presented us with an opportunity to move an existing church building (currently located about 12 miles north of Appleton). It belongs to Good Shepherd Lutheran which is dissolving.

        view photos of the Good Shepherd Church

We’ve weighed the pros and cons of moving a building vs. starting from scratch. Some of the pros include ...

· The “character” features we’d never be able to afford building new   (hardwood oak floors, stained glass, balcony, bell tower),

· Publicity surrounding the move will serve to “get us on the map.”

· Good stewardship using an existing bldg. will create goodwill for us in the area

· Traditional “country church” design ties in with our “traditional” Christian theology in a time when churches change to fit culture

The major “cons” have to do with functional design. It’s easier to design a functional, energy efficient structure when you start from scratch. For example, moving a building will require us to have a lower-level walkout (basement) under the sanctuary, thus the need for a wheelchair lift. Build-new plans called for everything on one level. The current building also lacks the energy efficiency that can be built into a new structure.

After prayerfully considering all of these aspects (and many more), we feel that God has re-directed us down the ‘move-a-building’ road on purpose. Therefore, we need to head down that road until God re-directs, puts up a road-block or makes it happen. At the present time we are getting bids for moving/construction costs. Initial estimates show that we will need to cut expenses/increase donations in the neighborhood of 60-80,000 to make this financially feasible.

How you can help:

1) Please keep in your prayers this project and everyone involved in it. Above all else we want to do God’s will and do, say or think nothing but what is pleasing to Him, gives Him glory and points people to Him.

2) Do you know someone who could donate services like excavating, electrical wiring, plumbing, sheet-rocking, mudding/taping, painting?  If so, let us know (we could give them a receipt for the value of their services)

3) Do you know someone who would find this project something they would like help fund with a monetary donation? If so, please let us know.

Please go to www.livingwordlutheran.net for more info on our congregation and this project. If you’d like to offer services or make a donation, you can contact Pastor David @ 320-220-1816 or  pastor@livingwordlutheran.net for more info on how to do either one.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

The Members of Living Word Lutheran Church

The Building Committee felt that it was wise for us to keep moving forward with the design process and our initial goal of breaking ground in 2009 - even though our building fund is still below where we had hoped it would be at this point. Some things they took into consideration for this decision: Interest rates are very low, commodity prices are also low and contractors are looking for work.

Our mission is simple. It’s God’s mission: Make disciples. Our official mission statement goes into just a little more detail:

"Living Word revived my daily Bible reading and commitment to living God’s Word."

How you can help: (email pastor@livingwordlutheran.net )

Commit to prayer. Give us your email and we’ll send you weekly updates on specific things/people to take to the Lord that week.

Consider becoming a financing partner in the mission.

Provide labor for some aspect of the building process.
 

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