St. Luke United Methodist1621 Superior Street Lincoln, NE 68521
(402) 477-2032 -
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St. Luke United Methodist 1621 Superior Street Lincoln, NE 68521 (402) 477-2032 - |
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Q: What is the history of the expansion project?
A: The Trustees committee began exploring the idea of expanding the building in January of 2006. In 2007, discussions with every committee in St. Luke identified a number of issues and concerns that can be partially addressed by the expansion. The UMC requires three votes at congregational conferences to approve a building project, as well as approval at the district level. The first congregational vote was taken on December 2nd, 2007 to determine if there was interest in proceeding with the proposal, which passed by an overwhelming majority (37 yes, 1 no). Between the first vote and second vote, an architect was retained to take the identified issues and turn them into preliminary architectural plans and a rough cost estimate. These plans were presented on April 6th, 2008 at a congregational conference. A second vote was held on that day, with 58 in favor, 8 opposed. On September 28th the third and final vote was taken after a presentation by the architect and Frank Tomes, the head of the Trustees committee. The project passed with a vote of 68 in favor and 8 opposed.
Q: Now that we've passed all of the votes, what happens next?
A: The fund-raising campaign will start in earnest, beginning in October. Ground-breaking and demolition will happen quickly (hopefully by mid-October), as we'd like to get as much done as possible before winter hits.
Q: So when will the construction be done?
A: The actual demolition and construction started the week of November 11th, 2008. The construction company is pretty confident that the major parts of the construction will be done by Easter, 2009. This estimate, of course, depends on the weather and on the subcontractors.
Q: Why was the third congregational vote postponed...and then postponed again?
A: The Building Committee anticipated that the final architect's design and cost estimates would be completed by August 10th. The final cost estimates were not complete by that date. No one wanted to hold a vote on incomplete information. As it turns out, it was a good thing we waited! The estimates were MUCH higher than anticipated. The Trustees and Building Committee worked extremely hard in August and September to revise the plans and go through the estimates one line at a time, to bring the cost down to a manageable level. The plans needed to be changed and the square footage to be added to the structure will be considerably less than the original plan.
Q: How will the fund-raising be handled?
A: Pastor Rex Bevins and Associates has been hired to direct the fund raising in the fall. Training of committees will begin in August. If you would like to be on a committee to help raise funds for this project, please call the church office.
Pledges will be taken for one-time gifts, or gifts to be given over a 3-year period. The goal of the pledge drive will be to raise enough money that we will have little or none that needs to be borrowed. The pledge period will begin after the 3rd vote. The 3-year period of giving will be kicked off by a "First Fruits" service in November.
Q: So why do we need an expansion, anyway?
A: The major issue that the expansion will address is tied to the slogan of the United Methodist Church: "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors." We have come to realize that our hearts and doors are not open wide enough...figuratively and literally! We know already that we have lost some elderly members who no longer attend because of these issues. We also know that we are not presenting ourselves in the best way as an open-hearted congregation for potential new members who may have disabilities.
The Issues:
The Solutions:
There are additional issues that will be taken care of at the same time, 'bonuses' if you will.
To sum it up: We know that we are in an area of Lincoln that is growing, which is evidenced by our membership which has been growing steadily over the last few years. But we know that if we can put our 'best foot forward,' we can better serve our congregation and our community.
Q: So what won't change?
A: We'll try to salvage as much as possible to keep expenses down. The existing stained glass windows will be carefully removed and put into the new construction. The new Prayer Garden will be untouched by the regrading. There will still be doors on the North side, wide enough for funerals and weddings. The current heating/cooling system should be adequate for the new square footage.
Q: How does the final plan approved at the end of September differ from the original plan that was presented in April?
A: The revised plan scraps the idea of extending the Narthex to the North. The cost of excavating the hillside and regrading the sidewalk was too high. An inspector checked the kitchen foundation wall, and found that it was stable. The original fear was that the wall was bulging and would need to be replaced even if no other construction was being done. With that wall out of the picture, a new plan was put in place to change only the most important two things: increase the size of the Narthex, and make the East Entrance accessible to all. The covered walkway is actually an addition to the original plan.
The following is a list of the original plans that will NOT be changed (with notes in parentheses about how the plans have been revised):
Q: Does this solve all of our problems?
A: Many more issues were identified in our initial round of taking suggestions from the congregation and the committees. To address ALL of the issues was felt to be overwhelming, both in cost and in trying to work around the construction mess. As we grow, we will have to take a look at possible further expansions...but those will be years down the road. There have also been several short-term and relatively inexpensive fixes identified that we can look into in the near future, such as expanding the parking lot and adding more seating in the Sanctuary along the sides. Two possible future phases have been identified: 1. Expanding the sanctuary to the south (to about where the sidewalk is) and 2. Adding a Family Life center with a basketball court. In addition, there is still the possibility of expanding to the North to move the nursery upstairs and increase the office space.
Q: So what are the down sides?
A: The kitchen will lose its only window.
Seriously, the worst part about it will be living with the construction process. Because of the mess and fire safety issues, once the construction gets to the point of closing off the back of the sanctuary, we will have to move the church services to the Fellowship Hall. We may temporarily lose a few members who don't want to attend during the construction process, and some potential members may be put off by the mess. However, history shows that churches that have expanded always see a positive bump in membership after the construction is done. It shows to the outside world that exciting things are happening at St. Luke!
Additional concerns were raised at the second congregational meeting. Because the balcony would be removed, alternate methods of videotaping the services or special events will have to be considered. As it turns out, the services have not been taped for about a year because no one has been requesting the tapes. A downside to the revised plans is that storage areas in the balcony will no longer be there, and no new storage area will be built. Another concern is that the additional groups using our facilities will be inconvenienced or stopped. The Trustees have contacted every group that uses our building during the week. Every group has been made aware that some accommodations will have to be made in the midst of construction. NO ONE has been asked to stop using our facilities. Some groups have been asked to consolidate their activities to a single day so that our facilities can also be used for new programs.
One of the good parts of the revised and final plans are that there will be very few Sundays that we will have to meet in the Fellowship Hall. Because of fire safety concerns, we can't hold services in the Sanctuary if the Narthex is closed.
Q: What's the bottom line? How much is this going to cost?
A: The final estimate is $550,000. Yep, we know that seems like an overwhelming number. Construction costs keep rising, however, so putting it off will only make it higher.
Q: Where's the money going to come from?
A: We have approximately $60,000 in a building fund already. There is also about $30,000 in the Memorial Fund that has been earmarked for the elevator. There is also the money from the sale of the parsonage (about $140,000), which it is possible that we can tap into that money. We will be having a pledge drive which we hope will provide the balance needed. We can also borrow money with a long-term mortgage, but we would rather avoid that if possible.
Q: But I thought we couldn't touch the parsonage money?
A: At the time we sold the parsonage at Pastor Schmidt's retirement, we agreed that the money would be invested, and the interest would provide a housing allowance for the next pastor. As it turned out, Pastor Safarik's housing allowance has been able to be met through the usual budget, so that interest has been building up in the account. When the agreement was drawn up, it clearly stated the intention of the housing clause, but it also specified that the principal and interest could be used in other ways if the congregation agreed to it. The additional congregational vote on April 6th approved using the parsonage money for the building project but only if we were unable to raise enough pledges to meet construction costs. The ideal situation would be to raise so much money that we won't need to touch the parsonage fund. (The tally of votes at the April 6th meeting was 41 yes, 21 no). If we do not use the parsonage money for this round of construction, it will remain in the fund earning interest, and could potentially be used down the road for the additional phases of construction described above. Or we could hang on to it indefinitely for a 'rainy day.'
Check out the pages below for more detailed information about the fund-raising and the building project.
Contact the church office to find out the members of these committees. All committee meetings are open to the congregation; the office can inform you when the next meetings are going to be held. In addition, committee members will wear badges during church services so that you know who to talk to if you have questions.
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