Building On Purpose

Office Moves Have Begun...

Ok, last week I didn't post ... it was my turn for some vacation! So this week we are rearing to go and things are moving ahead!

The office remodel officially began today as we moved the women's ministry offices to the admin building while remodel of the CE building takes place. This Wednesday we begin moving the Kid Country offices into their temporary home in the upstairs of The Point. When construction is completed both Womens and Kid Country offices will return to the renovated office space.

In the next couple days we will finalize office remodel costs, meet with our bank and have our next look at updated multi-purpose building costs. There is a high probablity that we will begin construction on the new office space in the CE building within 2 weeks.  Until then we willl continue to plan and prepare for all we will face in the coming months. 

Please pray for our board of deacons and Pastor Wade as we continue to seek the Lord in wisdom and direction.

Until Next Week,
Paul

 

Here comes Easter!

Easter is here! It sure seemed to come quickly this year. As I thought through this week's building update I was reminded that Easter is a time when we have a high number of guests at church and our hospitality toward each new person is very important. While we continue to work on our church campus being even a more inviting place for our guests, it is even more important that each person who calls First Baptist home is prepared to welcome our guests! 

As we continue to work on the development of our multi-purpose facility and park area, we want to create a warm, inviting atmosphere and a place where we can grow in Christ. I was reminded that the building is only a tool for ministry. It is us, the people who are part of First Baptist, who will make the difference as we reach out to others and help each other grow in our relationship with God.

Please pray this week for our contractor who continues to refine costs for the multi-purpose building, the office remodel and the utility relocation. We all know the challenges our economy is facing, but the Lord continues to move us ahead as so many are faithfully giving to the building program. Continue to pray for those who pledged real estate and the timing of those properties going back on the market and selling.

Until next week,
Paul

Office Relocation

Things are moving fast...just this morning I received word that our office relocation and remodel plans are in the last stages of approval by the City of Modesto. We have just a few small items to follow-up on and we should be set to obtain the permit.

As you know we need to move the main church offices in order to clear space for the multi-purpose building. It now appears that the remodel work will likely begin in April and be complete this summer. Our contractor has the remodel plans and is currently receiving bids from sub-contractors. Please pray that we can wrap up the office plan details quickly!

Until next week,
Paul

Utility Exploration

Well, I know it's not Monday, but I wanted to give you a mid-week update on some work that is being done today. This morning a work crew confirmed the location of some existing utilities in 11th Street and behind the Chapel. This work was necessary to finalize the design of our utility relocation project. Early next week we'll submit the drawings to the City of Modesto and when approved, we'll be ready to obtain the permit. We hope to begin our utility relocation project in April or May.

Until next week,
Paul

Cost Savings & More...

The meetings I mentioned last week went well. We met with about 15 different subcontractors. Some good news is that we were able to identify some potential ways to save. We also learned the cost of steel is projected to rise 7-10% in the coming months. It became clear that if we can move forward with our building on schedule, we may avoid a good portion of this anticipated increase in steel costs.

We have another busy week in store as we continue to prepare to build. We'll do some final exploration for the utility relocation and continue work on the design of the park area.

Please pray for wisdom and discernment as we make some significant decisions in the coming weeks and months - it's absolutely vital! We also need to continue praying that we would faithfully give to Building on Purpose, and that new folks would join this effort to reach our community.

Until next week,
Paul