St. Andrews Presbyterian Church - Construction Updates

Drivers on LaVista near St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 21^st, might have been confused by little orange flags, crowds milling in the front yard and people wielding shovels to dig up a little dirt. The congregation was out in force to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new central driveway into the church’s two separate parking lots and a new youth annex planned for the front of the existing building. These two projects begin a capital campaign named, “Extending Our Home of Peace and Welcome,” with a $3 million goal to improve the St. Andrews campus, make the church more accessible and welcoming, and contribute more to local and global missions.

Del Rey Humphries, a church member for 38 years and co-chair of the capital campaign committee, and Scott Jarvis, representing the youth of the church, wielded the shovels and broke ground for the new capital improvements. Both initial projects are vitally needed; the youth wing because of the growing youth ministry and the driveway because of the difficulty of entering and exiting the church grounds from two separate driveways and parking lots.

The genesis for the new capital campaign came about in January 2006. A Forward Ministry Task Force assessed the building and spiritual needs of the church and contracted with a planning firm to do preliminary drawings and cost estimates for multiple projects such as the driveway, the youth ministry wing, improvements to the Narthex and the sanctuary. Through several town meetings with the congregation, members discussed and debated the list of projects with a goal of ranking the projects in order of need for fastest execution and money goals.

The Town Meetings also confirmed the congregation’s belief that they should share the gifts of St. Andrews : a welcoming faith community, deeply meaningful worship, and a place where people find peace in a divided and warring world. To do this would mean the church campus and buildings should be more welcoming, starting with the entry from the main thoroughfare, adding additional welcoming space in the narthex, creating a new youth space, supporting local and global mission work and expanding and renovating the chancel area of the sanctuary.

A Capital Campaign Committee, selected from a large cross section of the church and assisted by an outside consultant, kicked off the fundraising efforts after Labor Day culminating in Commitment Sunday in November of 2006. That day brought more than $1 million in advanced commitments from the congregation. Pledges continue to come in to honor and memorialize members of the congregation. Ten percent of all money collected from the three-year Extending Our Home of Peace and Welcome capital campaign will be divided between designated global and local missions.

So far St. Andrews has donated $25,000 to the Alliance for Children Everywhere (www.childreneverywhere.org). This Christian-based charity works in Zambia , Africa , helping children in crisis and AIDS orphans. Several St. Andrews members have traveled to Zambia to work directly with the program, and St. Andrews participates monthly in the Change-4-Children project which raises funds for the charity and provides education about Zambia and Zambian children in crisis.

Choosing a local mission project has just begun for church members. The congregation has participated in town meetings to consider a local mission to support and will continue the discussion during the capital campaign.

In January St. Andrews started the process of soliciting bids and will start construction on the new driveway in February or March. The Sizemore Group will begin the design phase for the new youth wing and the sanctuary and narthex improvements in the next three months. Construction on the addition and improvements should start in May or June of this year.