Update on funding/gymnasium

Please pardon the length of this post, but to get to the final update and to let readers know of the church's need, I would like to recap how we got where we are to date. As has been posted on this blog and communicated in numerous other ways, it has been the church's desire all along to not to incur any debt throughout this rebuilding process. So far, God has provided. As many of you may know, the PCA generously donated the funds to purchase the piece of property where the constrution is taking place. The funding for the building came from insurance proceeds, donations made directly to the church after the storm, and the sale of our downtown property. Still to this date, very little beach front property has sold. God's hand is in everything, but His hand was very much in this transaction. It could easily have been years before the property was sold. If that was the case, I am not sure what we would have done.

The construction, as with many new church facilities, will occur in phases. Phase 1 obviously being built now. Phase 2 and/or 3 may include more Sunday School rooms, etc., but will hopefully involve the construction of a sanctuary. The worship space that we will use until a sanctuary is built will ultimately be the fellowship hall. At first, the thought was to build a true multi-purpose building that could function as a worship area, fellowship hall, and gymnasium. The more we got into the planning of the facility, the more the desire to have the Phase 1 worship area as well-appointed as possible since we may be worshipping in that area for a few years. It then became evident that this room would not be one in which games would be played, balls kicked around, etc. The need for a place for our youth/children to have lock-ins, play sports, and do the things that children do was recognized.

Our youth and children's ministry is an area that is strong and growing. In addition to that, we have had many young families join the church since Katrina and for the past several months it seems like we have been averaging a birth every other month! So the children and youth ministries will continue to grow even more.

I am sure you can see where this is headed. The need for a gymnasium is great. Therefore, the contractor designed a gymnasium and gave us a figure. Considering that funding was not in place for the entire amount and the fact that debt is not an option, the contractor came up with several different alternatives that I will detail later.

A few months ago, a capital campaign within our congregation was held to raise funds over a 3 year period. The gymnasium was one part of the campaign, but was not all of it. Future staffing needs, adding-on for possbile additional Sunday School rooms, the future sanctuary, and a long term goal of planting churches along the Mississippi Gulf Coast are all part of the use of the funds raised over this 3 year period. Also, since these funds are to be raised over a 3 year period, they obviously are not readily available now. The total commitments we received for this campaign from our congregation total $250,000. To date, we have collected roughly $25,000 from that campaign and also an additional $140,000 in donations specifically designated for the gymnasium.

Back to our options. To have a complete gym would cost $577,000. This is for a full size court, restrooms, and a storage area. There would also be some brick around it (I believe 6 feet from the ground) to help it tie into the other buidling. Another option on the opposite end of the specctrum from that is a shell of a building. Basically, the contractor would build the foundation, rough-ins for plumbing, and exterior walls. There would be no lighting or HVAC. That option would cost $266,000. If you add in the electrical work and the HVAC, the price tag comes to $427,000. What has been decided is to combine the funds already designated for the gymnasium along with some unreserved funds that the church has (mainly left over from donations after the storm) and have the contractor begin work to get us to the $266,000 scenario. This would leave some cushion in our general and unreserved funds for a rainy day or for unforeseen expenses in the new facility. Our hope is that through donations and/or labor that we will at least be able to make it to the 2nd step if not the final one.

That being said, our needs are financial and manpower. People have been very generous thus far and the Lord has provided beyond our wildest dreams. And for that we are most thankful and grateful. If the financial resources are there to complete the gym, great. But also, skilled labor to finish interior walls, sheetrock work, installing plumbing fixtures, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone has any suggestions, questions, abilities, etc., please call the church office at 228-863-2664.

Again, we are so grateful to the Lord for those He has used to provide resources to our church whether it be financial or manpower. We are also confident that the Lord will see His work through.