Things are moving quickly around the Grace Church construction site.  If you show up on Sunday you will notice that the construction fence is GONE!  The building is completely lockable with all the exterior doors in place so we do not need the fence any longer. 

Also, the portals and columns are painted to match the existing structure.  The windows are also completely in and the roof is over 50% finished.  The electricians are busy finishing up throughout the interior of the building as well. 

The building does not sound so hollow because of all the insulation that has been put up and continues to be put up.  There is also a layer of insulation on the outside of the building that goes under the stucco.  As soon as all the insulation is installed the stucco will be slathered on. 

There are many other things that are slated to happen any day now.  Soon, Santa Monica (the road to the north of the church) will be widened and the new north parking lot entrance will be done.  Shortly after the road is done the parking lot will be finished.  There is also more concrete to be poured and light poles to be installed, so watch for them.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.  [if you are viewing this in facebook and cannot see the pictures, please click “View Original Post” below this post.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Aaron.Giesler/61709?authkey=Gv1sRgCK353JWE09GXxQE&feat=directlink

If you were at church a couple of weeks ago you were able to tour the new addition.  We hope you really enjoyed your time looking around and blessing the building. We put together a video to showcase so many of the verses and prayers written on the walls and beams. 

You should watch it.  Click here 

We have some really talented youth here at the church. Zach Sanchez is one of those talented people. He has taken some artistic pictures of the building. I hope you enjoy them. I know I did.

[if you are viewing this on facebook click “view original post” to see the pictures.  Thanks for looking.]

5-1-09

We have some great pictures of the steel going up with the HUGE crane Edwin was talking about this weekend.  He is risen, and so is these huge beams!  Enjoy the pictures.

There is a BIG building going up around us here at Grace Church.  More and more contractors have been working diligently to move this project along.  Lyle has been the doing the work of a skilled conductor keeping all the different groups working and out of one another’s way.  The “light gauge steel” is almost done and the massive iron beams will come on Monday.  There is a giant crane by the work site to set the beams in place next week. 

You may also notice a new sidewalk and dumpster enclosure to the East of the building. City regulations require us to have two dumpsters for the 40,000+ sq feet of space we will have when this project is done, so we built another enclosure.  The sidewalk will eventually encompass the entire field to the East of the church, but for now there is a gap in the sidewalk until the parking lot to the North is redone.

Speaking of the parking situation, the parking lot is shaping up too.  There will be additional parking to the North and we will regain the spaces on the West side when the building is done. 

Things are moving along and it is exciting to be a part of it all.  Remember to pray for the ministry of Grace Church, this new building, and the safety of the workers.

Anyway, enjoy the progress photos…

The building will be up before we know it.  The steel arrived yesterday and is being erected as I type.  Our concrete slab is finally starting to look like a building.  Enjoy the pictures.

Also, remember to pray for this project.  It was about this time last year we embarked on the Building Connections journey.  No one but the Lord knew all the changes that have taken place in the world in the last 12 months.  Despite these changes our God is unchangeable!  Continue to pray for the building project.  Pray for the workers, contractors, and support personnel. Pray for Lyle, Bruce, Betty, and everyone else at the church that deals with this project every day.  Pray that we will stay the course of ministering to the community with this addition.  Pray that God will prepare the hearts of those that will use this building, that they may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and grown in their relationship with HIM!

Please pray.

As you probably noticed last Sunday, we have a NEW handicap/elderly parking lot.  This will provide some much needed close parking for those who need it the most. The sidewalk concrete was also fixed near the office entrance as well. 

Along with those two developments we have several other things brewing.  A big pile of steel is on the way and will be erected soon.  A new dumpster enclosure is being constructed adjacent to the existing enclosure. 

Our general contractor, Lyle Hofferth, has been hard at work getting contractors lined up and keeping the project running smoothly.  Lyle, Bruce, and rest of the team are hard at work keeping things on time and on budget.

If you get a chance tell them how much you appreciate all their hard work.

After countless trip to the City and lots of conversations, Grace Church finally has a final building permit. ( We were able to pour concrete and pave the new parking lot b/c we had a “foundation permit.”) But now it is just a matter of time before you start seeing steel going up and the whole place beginning to look like a building.

We are really excited that we have cleared this hurdle.  Just ahead is the virtually unlimited potential of this new space to minister to our church, and most importantly, our community.  Please continue to pray for this process as we explore new ways to use this space for the advancement of the kingdom.

Grace Church

It is official. The concrete workers came at 3:00 am on Wednesday and by 5:00 pm the slab was finished.  Now you can see just how massive the addition will be.  The new, closer, parking lot for the handicapped and elder should be done in the 2-3 weeks.  Things are moving.

We still need your prayers.  It has been about a year since we started the Building Connections campaign (less than a year since we started taking pledges) and there is still more than 2 years to go.  Continue to pray for the building project and Lyle, our General Contractor.  These are tough economic times and we will only complete this process with God’s blessing on this project. 

Also, pray for the new Grace Groups.  We had quite a few new faces showing up to these groups.  Pray they will continue to come.

Hope you enjoy the slide show.