The wall between the nursery and the ladies restroom foyer has been taken out, and a small privacy wall will be built with some blocks from the old wall. The basement walls are going to be re-excavate

The old coal chute is about to disappear.

Some woodwork around the stairwell is finished up, but the baseboard and molding around the entry way isn't. Now we're waiting to build a 10' by 20' addition on the front of the church for a

The rededication service. Many of those who were most heavily involved were included in the ceremony. Jeff always has insightful perspectives, and shared his thoughts about what the project meant in t

Jeff's ill father took a severe turn for the worse today, so the woodwork wasn't finished, but almost everything else was. It took lots of final dusting and cleaning to get everything ready for S

Compare the before picture to the after.

For all practical purposes, it's done. There is a little baseboard and chair rail to finish up, but that can be taken care of after revival services this week. There is nothing unfinished in what you

If you've been missing the updates, it's because Pastor Daryl went to a couple conventions. Last week it was a Leadership Conference at God's Bible School in Cincinnati with H. B. London of Focus on t

This week it was our Connectional Ministerial with Dr. Bill Ury from Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jacksonville, MS. He's facing the camera on the left. The pastor might look important, but it was only to

The work on the wainscoting still went on. Here's a close-up of the woodwork around the windows.

It still isn't quite finished, but you get the idea of what the songbook rack and shelf will look like. We plan to finish everything this weekend. Join us for the rededication Sunday morning

The wainscoting was started today by Dick and Andrew. An air nailer makes life much easier.

Jim is finally feeling well enough after surgery to help out a little.

Here's how you cut around an outlet with a miter saw. A bunch of closely spaced cuts make it look like the teeth of a comb - then you cut the teeth out.

Here's what's been done so far. About the same amount is done on the other side. The pine boards will be covered with chair rail and baseboard, and are just to save filling unseen spaces with exp

A show of hands revealed that, last Sunday, few people believed we would be back in church this Sunday. But God worked a minor miracle, and it happened. Our first service was with Reflection,

One of their more serious moments. Jessica, Brennan, Mandy, Shane, Jacinda.

It was also a surprise Pastor Appreciation Sunday. The church presented a beautifully done scrapbook with every family's pictures, and a couple pages worth of gift cards. Everyone wanted to look at it

Look! Manna fell from heaven and landed on the pastor's chair!

We began with prayer and breakfast as the men do every Saturday. But there were just as many women as men this time.

All the plywood came off the seats, and Kurly and Emzie help remove all the padding that protected them from damage.

Out with the old...

...in with the new.

Every square inch of the church had to be thoroughly cleaned. Even though the seats were covered and tarps and drop cloths were everywhere, you just can't remodel without making a mess.

Susanna and Christina brought all the hymnals upstairs to fill the new built-in songbook shelves.

Squares of cork were glued into the shadowbox for a bulletin board. Jeff and Steve laid them out as precisely as if they were working on the finest ceramic tile. A craftsman can't do a second rate job

The cleaning crew went above and beyond the call of duty, even using toothbrushes to clean out the scrollwork on the side panels of the seats.

Pressed into service preparing plants for display.

Marilyn goes to great lengths to create lovely decorations.

Here's how it looks so far. We're finally able to use the church again, even though it isn't quite finished. The woodwork has to be done, and the window treatments put back in place, but we can have c

We started in at 6:30 AM to get the painting done in time so everyone could get ready for Family Night tonight.

The electricians came to hang the new light fixtures.

The painting bee. It was all done by a little after noon.

Ashley just happened to be under an overfull roller at just the wrong time. Most of it was already wiped off at this point. It had dripped right down her face.

Obviously the most enjoyable job of the day - hanging the new speakers above the pulpit.

Our monthly Family Night was tonight. We got a few hay rides in between the raindrops.

Jeff gave an object lesson and challenge on reaching for a higher mark.

Just a friendly game of Cut-throat.

Meanwhile, the ladies do what ladies do.

Kenny gets help from Christopher and Daniel in putting up soffet and facia.

Dick can only run the shop vac on one leg for so long before he has to put his foot up so the swelling will go down.

The bucket brigade - a bunch of them needed cleaned.

Painting has finally begun. This is just the primer. The real thing tomorrow.

Old and young get in on the fun.

Herman and Elizabeth (at right) brought supper from the Hot Dog Shoppe.

The big mouths are not all male.

New cables for microphones and monitor speakers were run under the floor. Pastor Daryl solders one of the jacks together to ensure he'll be heard Sunday.

Tim works on the soffet.

Compound is sprayed on the ceiling prior to texturing it.

After spraying, it has to be smoothed with a roller and then stippled. Kind of close quarters back there, isn't it?

Nearing completion.

Two of three groups that went through the community handing out treats for kids with a little card that carried a gospel message. Response was highly positive.

After the compound starts to set up, the tips are flattened with a squeegee, giving it an "orange peel" effect. Very sharp.

The taping is all done on the drywall. Tomorrow the ceiling gets stippled, and an "orange peel" finish.

To keep them out of sight, 5 cables were run through the floor; 3 for microphones and the other 2 for monitor speakers. Those will allow the musicians to hear singers better since the n

Nothing much happened Saturday. Sunday was spent at Jeff & Lisa's again, hopefully for the last time. Today the drywall finishing was back under way.

We also had a group picking out light fixtures and fan/light combos. Here we're inspecting the chandelier we eventually decided on.

Does the color match this one or that one? Or that one? Or that one over there?

Yesterday and today several people spent time at Jeff & Lisa's polyurethaning the woodwork. Cameras were absent or unavailable, but this is the result.

Meanwhile the drywallers finally arrived today.

The drywall hanging was done by 1 PM, and the finishers arrived soon after. It's finally starting to look like an interior.

Jesse has that angelic appearance that comes from working in God's House.

We had a short prayer meeting and then put everyone to work. Several hundred feet of baseboard, trim, and wainscoting were all stained in about 3 hours.

When it was done, it was stacked on scaffolding 6 ft. high and all over the floor.

A few things got overlooked yesterday, so we spent the evening wrapping up loose ends. Some extra insulation was tossed up into the ceiling for extra thickness.

Oops! The shop vac lacked a filter, and made a cloud.

Some of the bigger helpers are the smaller people. Ashley and Susanna help measure boards to place between the studs for nailers for wainscoting.

Ted and Kurly were some who came on short notice to help finish things up.

All this had to go inside. Fortunately, the delivery guys carried most of it.

Kenny prepares aluminum to recover the base of the steeple.

Jonathan helps Jim and Pastor Daryl taper the batting to fit into the eaves.

The old ceiling insulation was laid in the rafters again, and the new pushed up under it, so now there are 15 inches of fiberglass in places. It should be warm this winter.

Dick couldn't get up and down ladders, but he made himself highly useful sitting down and cutting the insulation to size.

Emzie and Marilyn fixed up a delicious supper for the workers.

A big discussion ensued about who had the most persnickety palate.

The insulation is all up and ready for the drywall to be hung. Unfortunately, the crew can't do it till Thursday.

It was too cold outside, so we met for services at the home of Jeff & Lisa. The goodies set out before the morning service were too tempting.

How many churches have decor that includes a trophy elk?

Burt's back is operational again.

The presence of God was rich even though we weren't in a church building. The service lasted an hour and 40 minutes.

Dick joined us although it was difficult.

He also had some rich insights to share that God had shown him this morning.

Fellowship and remodeling discussions after the evening service.

The food and fellowship brought a great Lord's Day to a close.

The pastor's family had to be out of town today, so no pictures were taken of all the volunteers, but here's their handiwork.

Try figuring out this maze of wires. It's a good thing someone can. The electrical work is all done and approved.

The PVC pipe that holds audio and coax cables so they aren't in sight any longer.

It was fun trying to thread the cables through the pipe. Fortunately, there was a "fish tape" on hand to assist, a stiff wire cable that can be pushed through the pipe, and then pu

The electrician was here today to do his thing. He even left flowers and goodies for Pastor Daryl & Marilyn.

So how you like our new lighting?

Deloy Electric's expert employee, Paul.

Canisters for the "eyeball" lights that will provide extra illumination for the platform.

A surprise turnaround - we're suddenly allowed to resume work. We still have to pay for plans, and if anything is deemed unworthy of approval, it has to be ripped out, but at least we're under

Big handfuls to fill the bag.

A good stomp to pack it in.

And it's almost too full to close.

Danny

Shawn - with a little candy.

Ricky

Demonstrating abundant natural talent.

Anna and daughter, Charlene, showed up to change the sign too.

You need to use your head when putting witty wisdom on public display.

Someday it might look like this again. :-) We just found out that the original approval to go ahead with additional renovations inside has been revoked until we come up with architect's drawings we we

The pastor's father-in-law helps nail extra support boards in the rafters.

Another slow day without much to do. Hurricane straps were nailed up, and we missed a picture of Jim applying fire retardant spray to the part of the roof sheeting too close to the property line for t

Since the church is still unusable, we set up chairs in the garage and driveway of one of the houses the church owns. The podium had to go along too.

It wasn't the most picturesque, but it worked.

In fact it was downright ugly, but that didn't hinder the spirit of worship. Both song leaders were sick, on top of everything else.

The chorus books were easier to carry around than the hymnals.

Today was also Life Chain Sunday, so rather than making everyone go home and come right back, we just brought dinner in.

Old and young enjoyed the fellowship.

The food was wonderful, but the friendships are even better.

Praying for our nation and that the destruction of life would cease in the Life Chain.

Danielle

Brennan and Dustin came home from college and got pressed into service.

The stairwell will definitely have a new look.

The new wall will be further from the door, so the floor had to be extended.