Look Mom, No hard hat!

No children were put in harm's way in the taking of these pictures! We took advantage of the calm and quiet of a Sunday morning to take the kids through some of the parts of the church that are safe to walk through sans-hard hats, and the kids had a blast! Thanks to Jeff Weis for his awesome "tour guiding", and to the parents for their patience as the kids arrived back from Sunday school just a wee bit later than usual. . .

The older kids in front of what will be the new wall in Johnston Hall Looking towards what was, just a few short months ago, the Children's Library, and what will, in a few short months, be our new kitchen!

The Celeberation Center--Bigger with the walls of the kitchen torn out--we can hardly wait to have Qabats down here!!

the Garth--minus stairs. If you look waaaay up in the top right corner, you can see the door to the classrooms on the third floor of the education building.

The younger kids making their way into the sanctuary. They are standing right about where the organ used to be.

The older classes in the ever expanding adult choir room! In the top left of the picture, you can see the silver supports that will become the new Johnston Hall wall.

Behind the scenes--a day in the life of a construction site. . .

We thought that we would ask the staff to share what it is like to work in the middle of all of this construction. There have been muddy parking lots, repeated "fire drills" 2 or so hours without a bathroom in the office part of the building. . . there has been banging that has driven some of us to work from the coffee shop around the corner, and drilling that is reminiscent of the dentist's chair, but overall, we have looked on the bright side!

Here's what your staff has to say:

• "Portable. For me, that could be the watchword for our construction. Boxes and rolling carts and milk-crates and easels abound as staff and committees prepare each week for programs that have been relocated during construction. Deacons have devised a portable bulletin board for display at Deacon-hosted coffee hours. Home communion supplies reside in a large snap-lid box that travels from office to the kitchenette in the Education Wing. Membership and Evangelism has assembled the “membership gathering in a box” complete with all the necessary supplies: name tags, forms, pens, pencils, welcome booklets, videos… Each time I see a bag or a box or a crate or a cart, I can’t help but think about the ancient Israelites traveling through the wilderness… The tabernacle that stood at the center of their journey was portable—a tent that went with them wherever they roamed. I imagine that in 40 years the people became very adept at packing and unpacking; that they were able to weed out the redundant steps; that they became ever more aware of what was really essential to their work and their worship. I thing that amidst all our packing and unpacking, we too will uncover the essence of our own work and worship—in this place, in any place." Martha Langford, Associate Pastor for Congregational Care

• "It is very exciting to be working at Third Church during the renovation! Every day there is a new sight or sound. I was startled to find a backhoe in the Celebration Center and amazed to see the Garth empty of stairs. It is a wonderful adventure and I am so pleased to watch it all unfold…while wearing my very own hard hat!" Cindy Mark, Office Administrator

• "Sometimes the noise is deafening… other times it’s eerily quiet and you wonder if anything is happening. At times you have the feeling that the second floor will slip into the first floor. Everyone connected with the project has been very pleasant." Beth Williams, Pastoral Administrator

• "For me, it is like watching your garden grow. Everyday something new is blossoming and you have to wait patiently for it to be done to see the full bloom of what you have been waiting for." Lisa Cramer, Financial Assistant

• "I’m finding construction doesn’t interfere with my day-to-day work too much—for which I am thankful! The weather has been so nice this spring that I enjoy my walks outside to get to the Chapel and the Education Building. There has been one negative: those noisy fire alarms!" Carol Foster, Church Business Administrator

• "The worst part of the whole thing was the week without heat in early May, when, really you shouldn't need heat anyway! The second worst part is thinking, 'oh I have (insert needed item) in the Qabats closet' only to remember that there isn't a Qabats closet at the present time. Oops! Everyone is being so flexible and patient--it is really fantastic to see the staff and congregation coming together and to watch the enthusiasm for the finished project!" Becky D'Angelo-Veitch, Coordinator of Children's Ministry and Congregational Life

• "As a church office volunteer, working 3 mornings a week, I am relatively unbothered by the construction. There are of course occasional power or other disturbances but it has not been serious. It is fun to follow the activity, peeking in the doors and talking to some of the workers." Bill Boller, Volunteer

• "The construction process thus far has not caused significant disruption of Outreach services. The various teams have been very flexible in adjusting to new spaces and the sexton staff has been wonderful in making the transition very successful. The Adult Faith Development program has move to the Rochester Museum and Science Center's Bausch Auditorium. The facility is top notch. However attendance has dropped by about 50% despite vigorous advertisement. " Rod Frohman, Associate Pastor for Church and Society

• Even though we are calling this a “construction” project, for the most part until now, the reality has been “destruction.” But things are slowly changing. Steel beams for new ramping are going in. Concrete blocks are going up here and there. Wall framing is going up. Some highlights: >The ever-present oversight of Terry Gardner from LeChase. >The ever-present smell of sawdust. >Jackhammers interrupting morning prayers. >Space heaters in May! >How “cool” it all looks when decades of flooring and walling are removed from surface areas to reveal what was underneath. >A big hole in the sanctuary floor! >Several days of fire alarms, as the fire detection system thought the sawdust was smoke – given our history, erring on the side of caution is a good thing. >Envisioning what a greatly enlarged Celebration Center will mean to our community life. >Adaptive staff, volunteers and committees who trudge from place to place. >Our sextons, John Pilato and Joey Becerril, going above the beyond the call of duty. >Creative uses of meeting spaces. >The commitment of our construction team, Jim Chisholm, Elmer Dustman, Jeff Weis and Peter DuBois. We meet at least weekly and sometimes daily, and exchange many e-mails and phone calls. >The hospitality of the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word – real, true, Christian hospitality. >And many more. On one hand, it seems funny to pray for a construction project. But on another hand, it makes all the sense in the world. So pray for workers, especially, that their work may be safe and provide satisfaction. Pray for committee members and volunteers. Pray for the Third Church staff. And pray always that all of this will somehow reflect who God is calling us to be and what our future may look like, by God’s grace.