Construction Update

Grace Family,

I know some of you were not present a couple of Sundays ago when I gave a Building Grace update to the congregation, so I wanted to share with you what I said there and hopefully answer some questions many have as to why we have yet to start building after “breaking ground” last September.

Things are getting close to turning over the plans to the builder from the architects and we hope to have finalized renderings in the coming weeks of how the changes made will actually look. I know this process has seemed to be dragging, but I assure you it has not been from a lack of work or attention. One unique aspect of this "re-planning" of Phase 1 that is different than how we arrived at it previously is the thought of how we are approaching it. Previously we had the Master Plan and we figured out what we could actually afford to build in Phase 1 and we worked backwards, just eliminating (or cutting off) the pieces we could not build now. And it left us with the drawings and plans we had going into the "ground breaking."

After some time and thought and realization that we will likely be in Phase 1 for quite sometime, and with the blessings of our current growth, there were thoughts that we needed a bigger worship space from Day 1, plus perhaps the ability to expand that space if we are needing the room and not yet in a position to bite off moving forward with Phase 2. So the approach reoriented our perspective to working "forward" from Phase 1 into the Master Plan, rather than the Master Plan backwards to Phase 1. What I mean by that, is we started looking at Phase 1 as meeting our needs and criteria for the now and not simply a holding pattern until one day we could afford Phase 2, if that makes any sense.

So as with any building project, when you change one thing it has a domino effect on other things. Thus the extended time this has taken over the thought of simply making the Fellowship/Worship room bigger, which also brought a change in the shape to more rectangular rather than triangular. This change changed connection points and rooflines, which changed the look of the building and where certain things needed to be oriented in the floor plan, and so on...

But I am amazed at how God has blessed us in this season of waiting by bringing blessings into play that perhaps we would have missed had we been working on "our" timeline. So please continue to be patient and to pray God's direction over this opportunity to build a beautiful place of worship where hopefully many will come to know Him throughout the years.

Thank you for your love and excitement for all the Lord is doing at Grace Methodist Church.