A Mess with a Plan: Campion Church Building Addition

,The front of our campus and the lawn in front of the church looks like a mess, but there is a plan.  Where there was grass is now ditches and piles of dirt.  In a few days, concrete footings will be set up and the outline of the newest addition to our campus, a wing on the church for children’s ministry, pastoral offices, and a community welcome center, will be established.  
 
We have undertaken this vision of building and renovation as part of our mission now and into the future of finishing the work of God. As a campus church, our impact is not just the greater Loveland area, but as students engage and are trained to give their lives for the work of Jesus we will be a part of impacting the world.  For Campion, this is about impact:  Impacting our students by training them to serve God.  Impacting our members in providing space for them to be disciple, to worship, and be trained as missionaries. Impacting our community with an attractive place for them to use and be invited into. Through this project we are creating an environment where we can interact with one of the fastest growing communities in ways we‘ve never imagined. 

Kim Mehlenbacher, a member of the church and general contractor for the project, drew up the first plans about four years ago, and now outlines the next steps in the project. The next thing that needs to be done is to bring in concrete to set up the footings and the foundation.  Because of the slope of the Church’s front lawn more dirt will need to be imported in to raise the foundation about 5-6 feet, making the addition the same height as the current structure. Volunteer labor will then be used to frame the building, which will hopefully be done in September. Once the shell of the building is up, stucco, mechanics, insulation, drywall, heating, windows, doors, and many other aspects of the building will be put in. Work will be continued as long and as often as weather permits. If all goes according to schedule the addition will be done in March of 2020, although Mr. Mehlenbacher reminds us that many factors can delay the work such as weather, the use of volunteer labor, and the schedules of sub-contractors. Mr. Mehlenbacher adds that he “hopes to see things go up well and quickly,” and that Campion Church is “thankful for all contributions, be it monetarily or by way of labor and talents, that have come together to make this happen.”

Mid-June brought a blessing as we looked to finish off the fundraising of $2 million.  With $150,000 left of that total, a generous local donor offered to match the remaining, 2-to-1, for a total of $150,000.  With this, the prayerful goal is to have the total ($2 million) raised by the time our fall semester begins in August.

Pastor Micheal Goetz with Ashley Herber

Church members gathered to pray over the new construction and participated in the official ground-breaking on June 10.