Expanding Worship at Messiah
Why do we need to expand worship? We are continuing to see more visitors each week
at Messiah Lutheran which has led to steady growth of our Congregation over the last
several years (Figure 1). This growth is a blessing, and with this blessing comes
the need to support our mission – “God’s people reaching out” – by providing opportunities
for more people to worship at Messiah.
Figure 1 – Average worship attendance per year for the highest service attendance each week. Dashed line shows the growth of the average over time. The dotted lines show the bounds where two thirds of the service attendance falls. About 15 percent of the services are above the upper dotted line. The formal capacity of the current sanctuary is 200 people, although 80% of capacity or 160 people feels very full.
Building Committee Members:
* Bill Emerson
* Pete Woods
* Ed Stasiak
* Janet Smith
* Rhonda Gaede
* Jack Mast
* Pr. Scott Peterson
Priorities driving the design of the expanded sanctuary:
* More pews for worship service seating
* More and better seating for choir
* More room for the bell choir / instrumental ensemble
* Larger sacristy
* Larger narthex
Current Status - On September 19, 2010 a congregation meeting was held to provide an update, present architectural renderings, and provide an estimate of the costs to continue with the expansion of the sanctuary. The MLC Church Council put forward the following motion:
The Church Council makes a motion to authorize expenditures of up to $29,000 from the New Facilities Fund to pay Chapman-Sisson Architects to complete design development, construction documents, and solicit bids from general contractors for Sanctuary expansion.;
And, Messiah Lutheran Church enters a Capital Fund Appeal in early 2011 seeking financial commitments to pay for Sanctuary expansion;
And, following the Capital Fund Appeal and receiving contractor bids, Messiah Lutheran Church holds a Congregational Meeting to vote on proceeding with the expansion.
This motion was approved by a majority of the congregation members present.
