MIDWEEK MESSAGE #255
Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #255. I hope your week is going well. Sunday was an exciting day for the OVCF family as two elders, Bobby Anderson and Tom Mangia gave an update about our building addition. In case you were unable to be here or to hear the live stream I thought I would include the text of their presentation for you:
7/20/25 Building Update to the Congregation
The Elders and Building Team have been actively meeting and working on the building project with the contractor, and we wanted to bring you an update and some exciting news. Would members of the Eldership (Bobby Anderson, Tom Mangia, David Robertson and Pastors Bill and Ryan); the Building Team (Wayne Akerson, Madi Arnett, Dick Hogan, Dave Keith, Diana Markland, Marge Monticue, Don Taylor, and Mark Truesdel) please stand. We would like to thank you for your dedication to not only this project but to the future of this congregation and church. We truly appreciate you. {Note: names added by me}
In late June/early July the Elders reviewed the current bid and identified some areas of opportunity that would allow us to reduce the overall cost. In partnership with our contractor and Building team, we were able to reduce the next phase of the project by ~$93k! These savings have allowed us to sign the contract earlier this week that will see us proceeding with finishing the foundation, erecting the building, completing all exterior work, and framing the interior walls. The concrete for the foundation is scheduled to be poured on 7/26/25 at5:30am, weather permitting. The building structure construction is currently planned to begin in September. Exciting things are happening, and all of these items are being done DEBT
FREE!
We had previously provided you with an update that we had planned to prioritize the parking lot expansion. We feel that it is also important to provide you with an update on that separate/subset project. The expansion of the parking lot is still a need and priority of the Eldership and Building team, but after discussing the parking expansion with the contractor, we have decided to delay that for now to focus on the building itself. We will be in further discussions with our current contractor regarding this separate project (parking lot). {End statement}
Is this not exciting news? 😃If you have any questions as we move forward, please feel free to ask the Building Team members (listed above) and we will do our best to answer any question or concern you may have.
Now for some other news!
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- Pastor Ryan will be out of the office all week.
- This Sunday, the 27th, Derek Britt and Luke Furr from Chi Alpha will be with us to give us brief update about their work among the students at IU.
- This Sunday is also Move-Up Sunday! As Pastor Ryan explained a few Sundays ago, the students moving into 1st grade will move up to the Early Elementary and the 3rd grade grads will move up to the Late Elementary. The 6th grade grads will be recognized in second service with the adults where they will begin their new journey of growing in their faith.
- Our next OVCF Family Pitch-in is next Wednesday, the 30th at 6:00. We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate God’s goodness with us.
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YOUTH CORNER
Call me stumped. After having so many entries from the fair last year, I had to use several MMs to list all the awards. This year I have had no one contact me about the awards won. So I’m putting the word out for next week!! Text or email me any awards our young people have won from the fair.
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- Congratulations to Aubrey Mangia for taking first place in her age division (women 14 and under) at the 5k fund raiser at MCSP this past Saturday benefiting the Tristan Calvin Scholarship Fund.
- Tad Nicholson also ran in the same fundraiser. He ran the 5k in 30 minutes. (He would have definitely beaten me).
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With my remaining space, I’d like to reiterate what I said Sunday morning before I preached about the T-shirt I wore. It said This Pastor has an Awesome Congregation. I wore it for a reason because I knew what Tom and Bobby were going to say. Here is what I also added as I reflected on the past 19 1⁄2 years as your pastor:
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- Our move to this building in 2010 was a move of faith.
- Even after the devastating financial news in 2011, we moved on in faith.
- We added Ryan to our staff in 2013 by faith.
- We added on the Youth Addition in 2018 by faith. With God’s help we did it debt free.
- We began saving immediately toward an addition we believed would accommodate the adult worship and now 7 years later we are moving forward in faith. We obviously aren’t there yet, but we will be. We will continue to move by faith, trusting God to provide and not move until He does.
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To echo my shirt: this pastor does have an awesome congregation. So thank you for being you. Thank you for continuing to focus on people, not on buildings. Thank you for making this a “Welcome Home” place-a place where people can find they are home. {One final note: thanks to whomever gifted the shirt to me during the “Welcome Home” series in September/October}.
My sermon this coming Sunday is The Danger of Self-Reliance from Ecclesiastes 9-Isaiah 22. I look forward to being with you. Remember you are loved.
Pastor Bill
