A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry – Pt 4 of 4

The Building Team sent DJ Construction off to try some new looks and come back to tell us that it could be done, it was a prudent and effective means of moving forward and it would take more money.

It could be done but not in the current budget.  

• It also took a while for the team to warm to the idea of removing everything that was currently being used in ministry space.  

• It took a while to warm to the idea that the section that was only 17 years old would come down, too. 

• It took a while to warm to the idea that this was a good use of funds and an efficient direction to set up the Osceola Grace Family for the future without a lot of maintenance and improvement projects.

Another meeting happened.  Not around dinner, but at the church and the promise was made.  Another $1 million was committed to this project and suddenly it looked like this new idea could actually work and become a reality. 

The Building team revised the scope of the project and walked it through with everyone on the team. It was approved and presented to the rest of the Elder Board. After a number of questions and great deal of discussion the Elder Board also signed the approval for this new direction. 

That brings us to today.  

The new direction involves two new wings; one to the north and one to the south of the main auditorium.  At the same time the auditorium will be renovated and the interior space divided up into two sections. 

First, a smaller auditorium [100’ x 60’] which will:

• accommodate 400 chairs

• incorporate a sports floor for future sports ministry

• be rotated 90° for the audience to face the west wall and enter from a new east wall which becomes the dividing wall to the new Gathering Area. 

Second, the remainder of the existing space [100’ x 40’] becomes a common Gathering Area which will:

• be the main entry into the church and office areas

• be the main access hub to the other areas of ministry to the north, south and renovated auditorium

• include an indoor play area for young families to enjoy throughout the week

• include a coffee bar and soft seating for people to gather before or after services.

It seems a little outrageous, however, this direction and new scope of the project allows Osceola Grace to be able to overcome so many of the current challenges while actually giving a face lift or new space to virtually every area of the building.

On Sunday, November 29 during the morning service, Pastor Greg will present much of this history in a concise format while DJ Construction’s Enis Yoder will be there to give a visual 3D fly over and fly through of the plans as they are currently laid out.  This is not the final version but will provide a framework for our subcommittees to work from to develop the actual blueprint and layout. You won’t want to mist November 29! Small scale plans will be distributed that day at the Welcome Center for each person to take and peruse for a while and warm to the idea and propose any questions that may arise.

There will be a follow up Question/Answer time in small groups on Sunday night, December 6^th at 6:30PM after the Christmas Tree lighting and caroling event [5:45PM]at the Osceola Town Hall!

God truly has doubly blessed our Osceola Grace church Family!  Praise God for this blessing and pray for unity, wisdom and direction as this family moves forward into the future!

A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry – Pt 3 of 4

The projected cost came in well above the funds that were available for each of the three plans being reviewed by the team.  Even the very generous gift that was give would not cover these costs.

It became apparent that the best possibility was to simply renovate some current areas and forego the idea of a new Children’s Wing.  Instead they would utilize existing space and make some major changes to the flow of people.  The goals remained the same: this project needed to stay in budget, the church still needed a large gathering area that was centrally located and the church needs an improved space for Children’s ministry.  It was looking like the team was facing a scaling back in some form of the whole project.

Some things they ran into in the process:

• They learned that renovation is much cheaper per square foot than new buildings
• They learned that to do what they were hoping to do would require a major realignment of roof lines to fix existing leaks and to avoid more in the future.
• They learned that when they start adjusting roof lines in order to make things look cohesive and not like an afterthought that it gets expensive (even to renovate)
• They learned that the more they moved toward some solutions to fit our original scope that the renovation costs began to rise per square foot.
• They also ALL agreed that they did not want to leave the next generation with a bunch of maintenance headaches or without the ability to easily reassign space or expand the building.
• Even if it could be made to work, it left us with a follow up renovation of the current youth room and café and the “soon to be” Michiana Biblical Counseling Center” area because both section on the north and south side of the building had excessive leaks and were developing a mold problem. 
• In other words, the $1.2 million dollars (of the larger gift) allocated to the new building was not enough and would not solve those other problems.

So.   Someone joked in one of the meetings and said, “It would almost be cheaper and fit better in our budget if we just tore it all down and started from scratch!” 

That was a joke. 

However, as the team looked at a few possibilities regarding this idea, they realized that there may be some merit to this idea.  

So, here is what happened.  At the next meeting with DJ Construction’s leaders, the idea was floated out there like this, “What would it look like if we removed everything except the 100’ x 100’ area that is the current worship space? We could renovate the worship space to include a gathering area while adding a Children’s wing to the south as new construction and offices, youth ministry space and Adult Bible Fellowship classes to the south as new construction.  If we did, it would solve all of these other issues of rooflines, other leaks, inefficient buildings, heating and cooling, etc. Additionally, it would set up the next generation for expansion in almost any direction or a reassigning of the current space as ministry needs change in the future.” 

As that was taking place, God also had been moving in someone’s heart regarding what it might take to accomplish this financially. 

Seriously, stay tuned for the last part!

A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry – Pt 2 of 4

As the Building Team began to work, they did a number of things to prepare.  First, they spent some time creating a “scope” for the type of work to be done.  That Scope listed what was “in” the building project and what was “outside of” the building project.   What they specifically agreed to was that we would build space for Children’s Ministry and space for a common gathering area before and after services. 

Ultimately, the goal was to have that gathering area as a “hub” to the rest of the ministry.  If it could be centrally located, then people would pass each other and encounter each other as they entered and exited ministry areas and the building.  The goal with that area was to cause people to intentionally encounter each other in a comfortable setting that would foster conversations. 

The team read a book together about building projects for churches and tried to grasp the massive responsibility that was on their shoulders to lead this endeavor.  Throughout the process, they interviewed multiple construction firms and saw some “concept” drawings of what “could be”.  It was quite exciting to see the ideas flowing and also quite intimidating to see what it would take to get the project accomplished. 

What became clear throughout this process was it would take a lot of people to speak into the design, flow and needs of this project in order to accomplish it well.  There were a couple of whole church meetings to unpack some of the process and let people in on where the team was on the timeline.  All along the elders were being kept in the loop in order to make sure the team were still on task and that the project stayed focused. 

Eventually, the team decided upon the construction firm that would lead our church family through the rest of the way, DJ Construction.   It was very clear that DJ’s goal was to discover HOW ministry was CURRENTLY happening and to design a building that would enhance, improve and support Children’s ministry rather than build something which forces Osceola Grace into a mold with which we are not familiar.

As the team began to work with DJ there were three different conceptual drawing that were presented as a “starting point” for discussion.  DJ is extremely experienced with church building projects, so when they presented each of the conceptual plans, they also were able to give “ball park” numbers that showed a range of cost for each plan.  Keep in mind, these were estimates not actual quotes but they were estimates based upon actual data from their vast experience.

Those numbers were slightly discouraging to the building team.   So they kept praying and kept working toward a plan that would work.  The more they talked, prayed and met with DJ, the more they realized they might need to look at things differently.

Here is why:     Stay tuned…