MOVING OUT THE TENT PEGS STORY
October 24, 2004

Thanks to all Christ the King members and friends, who have made this project and this day possible!

 

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY! +

 

 

ABOUT TODAY’S DEDICATION

Christ the King’s Building Dedication is the culmination of three years of planning, and many more years of dreaming.

 

THREE YEARS AGO

A “dream team” was first assembled to put as big a list together of what might happen to improve and renovate our forty-year old facilities.  Like going shopping with all the money you can spend, this group came up with an extensive list.

 

This list then went to a “building proposal” team, whose job was to organize the list into what seemed most feasible for Christ the King to do.  We hired an architect, Paul Minor, to sketch some drawings of a three-phased proposal.  This included 1) a new front entryway; 2) an expanded breezeway and basement; and 3) a second story on our education wing.  These three phases were presented to the congregation, which gave the go-ahead to explore a capital appeal to fund the phases.

 

TWO YEARS AGO

The “building proposal” Team and congregation council interviewed two professional firms, and recommended KAIROS to be the firm that helped us raise money for our building project, with its consultant Pastor Renee LiaBraaten.  The “Capital Appeal” Team had a multi-level and multi-event approach, whose goal was to involve as many members of CtK as possible.  We called this “Moving out the Tent Pegs.”  One highlight was a congregational dinner at Nashua’s VFW, with a catered dinner featuring barbecued pork.  Our pledges, given on a Sunday morning, are all part of our current Capital Appeal, a three-year process, which enabled us to go ahead with two phases of our building.

 

ONE YEAR AGO

In order to begin our building, we needed permits from the City of Nashua, through its zoning and planning boards.  Our newly formed “Building Committee” went to bat for CtK’s improvements, and got approval to move forward!  We hired a new architect, Bruce Hamilton and his associate, Randy Kangas.  We hired a contractor, Hutter Construction, to be our builder.  Site engineers and excavators were hired.  We saw a multitude of drawings and proposals that put detail after detail into our Moving out the Tent Pegs. 

 

FOUR MONTHS AGO

Our building project began after Chapel School closed for the summer, right after Memorial Day weekend.  Asbestos was removed from the boiler room and the basement flooring.  Only the door to the education wing was open during the project, as work on the front entryway and the breezeway prohibited access.  The church office was moved to the St. Thomas Room, and Pastor’s office was the basement of the parsonage.  The building committee met weekly to track progress and make adjustments to the plans, as some surprises were found in the renovation (for instance, there was no insulation in the roof!).  The congregation approved additional financing for the project in June.

TODAY

Today, as the bulk of the work is complete, we have much for which to be thankful.

Our new and renovated building includes

• A new front entryway, with a handicap-accessible lift.  The front entryway provides an airlock so that cold air is kept out of the worship space.  The entryway is spacious and inviting for all who come to worship, and includes a hallway to our breezeway.  This new space also gives us two storage closets in the back of our narthex.
• In the front of our worship space, near the baptismal font, there is a working sacristy for our altar guild to prepare and store our worship materials, such as communionware.  There is a small double-sink, with one called a piscina that drains leftover communion wine into the earth,
• Our renovated breezeway goes all the way to our setback line, and has new doors, new flooring, and much more room.  In the back of the breezeway, we have a new multipurpose room (or what shall we name it?) for education, meetings, and functions.
• In our administrative wing, we have new carpeting and renovated offices.  New paint, new windows, new office furniture and library shelving have been added.  A handicapped-accessible elevator leads down to the basement, and the new custodian’s closet and two storage closets in the church office have been added.
• In our renovated fellowship area downstairs, a newly tiled floor has been added, a new kitchen is under our expanded breezeway, where there is a new six-burner stovetop and oven, a new refrigerator, and a storage room.  Our Chapel School Preschool and Sunday School are glad to have a new bathroom down there, too!
• Two maintenance items have also been added: a new roof above our worship area, and three new boilers in place of our original, named after the three men in the fiery furnace: Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego.

 

Thanks to our Dream Team, Building Proposal Team, and Capital Appeal Team!

 

Thanks to our Building Committee: Scott Harris and Garry Schevey (co-chairs), Laura Harris, Linda Graves, Bill Carr, Dennis and June St. Lawrence, Michael Jakoby, Joanne Wilhelm, Sandy Clark, Mike Secules, and Cindy McCullough!

 

Thanks to our Dedication workers: Kelley Bawmann, Liz Christoffersen, Charlotte Johannesen, Norma Buchanan, Amy Wilson, Carol Ritchie, Louise Linscott, Steve Hansen, and Helen Sanford.

 

Thanks to our new magnet procurer, bulletin cover, and sign producer: Bob Parks.

Thanks to our preacher and CtK member, Pastor Hans Arnesen, Associate to Bishop Margaret Payne of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

(Posted: 28-OCT-2004)
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Christ the King Lutheran Church, 3 Lutheran Drive, Nashua, NH 03063 (603) 882-6142
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