28 Sep A New Season
After all I have written mostly about my own physical challenges these last several month’s, our church family has been through quite a year of its own! Haven’t written much about that, but we are entering a new season, and I want to celebrate it!
Back in January (same time as I got sick originally), we moved out of our Sanctuary and into temporary quarters across our parking lot. It was small, a bit cramped, divided into two rooms and quite different than what we’ve been used to.
It was supposed to be temporary. It was, but just a longer temporary than any of us imagined. But it would be worth it, and now, it has been!
Two Sundays ago (on my 45th birthday), we “crossed the river” from the temporary quarters and back into the newly remodeled Sanctuary. You can see pics of the day here.
While the “new” always takes a little while to work out its kinks and figure out what worked and what didn’t, we’re enjoying a season of our whole family being together in one celebration each Sunday. I don’t imagine that lasting real long, but we’re enjoying it while we can.
The remodel was quite significant mostly in infrastructure to a 56 year old building. For those who enjoy details, it included:
- Upgrade electrical service from 200 amps to 600 amps.
- New roofing, including heat shield barrier plywood.
- Repair of sagging roof lines.
- New HVAC units.
- New doors and windows.
- Addition of uni-sex handicap-accessible restroom.
- New paint & carpet throughout.
- New concrete patio in courtyard.
- Addition of basic stage lighting and acoustical treatments around Sanctuary.
We still have a couple of projects to eventually complete. One is our front yard, which held our cherished gazebo that was demolished in the process.
The addition several years ago of our courtyard made the gazebo obsolete as a gathering area. It was in need of significant repair, so we decided it best to retire it. We have still to decide the redesign of that area of space.
We also are using our old chairs, which will do fine into the future with replaced pads and fabric. And, we want to expand our stage lighting system for more multi-purpose use and ability into the future.
All told, the project cost about $530,000. Sometimes we wondered if it would have been better to tear down and start fresh, but I think we went the right direction for what God has provided us with.
If you’d like to see some of the work as it was being done, you can see it here, here, and here.
We’re celebrating a new season! If you’re in the area, come celebrate with us!
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