South Joplin Christian Church Senior Minister Rev. Dr. Colleen Carroll tells the story of how this congregation decided it was time to move out of their current building and find new space as they continue to provide mission and ministry in their community.
It began back in February of 2021 when a hard freeze caused considerable damage to the elevator shaft. Due to COVID, we waited months to even get a repair person to take a look. When we were finally able to get an estimate, the starting figure was $400,000, with another $300-400,000 in additional construction costs IF we could find a company willing to do the work. (Three out of five elevator companies would not even take a look or give an estimate.)
Our building has no entrances that are ground-level; all entrances involve at least one flight of steps. By this time, our members were growing weary of mounting the steps and/or suspending ministry due to the difficulties. We tried worshiping in the basement once a month but were not able to livestream the services from the basement.
A Facilities Task Force was named to research our options and consulted with Church Extension via Zoom calls. The church is over 100 years old and carries no mortgage. We own about three-fourths of the city block, including two small rental houses, a public park, and the Quonset hut which is permanently closed. We obtained an estimate from a realtor who determined the entire property to be valued at over $1.5 million.
The Facilities Task Force made the recommendation that we sell the property and relocate elsewhere for several reasons.
The congregation is not able or willing to underwrite a capital campaign to cover costs of the elevator repair or replacement.
The building and property are increasingly difficult to maintain for our aging membership, and mostly underutilized.
Selling the property would enable us to purchase a smaller, more efficient building even if some of the profits were needed to make modifications or repairs, and hopefully enable us to invest more funds in ministry rather than maintenance.
In May of 2022 the congregation approved a motion to list the property for sale and begin researching properties for purchase. Shortly after, we received an invitation from a small ELCA Lutheran church across town to rent or purchase their building. Their congregation has dwindled in size and is facing financial challenges. Their building was constructed after the 2011 tornado and is ADA compliant.
Since we have not received a viable offer on our property to date and the winter months are approaching, the Task Force recommended to the congregation that we rent the Lutheran church on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings for three months, beginning November 12. This will allow safer access to our members to and from worship, as well as ease us into an eventual move when our property sells. We are also pleased that the rental will enable the Lutheran congregation to stay in their building for a while longer.
That brings us to this Sunday, which will be our first morning at our new location. Since we do not want to abandon our property while it is listed for sale, we will maintain our offices and other weekday activities except for choir rehearsals at our property on Pearl Ave.
We welcome the prayers of our siblings in Christ throughout CCMA.