It was a beautiful sunny morning when the Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church opened its new gate to heaven the other Sunday celebrating the church’s 25th anniversary and the dedication of the newly expanded and remodeled facility. Just like the ground-breaking ceremony held a few months ago, the place was packed and the weather cooperated as the Holy Spirit presided over the festivities.
Certainly, something good is happening at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church on the city’s busy southwest side as church members turned out in force to celebrate its new addition, or to paraphrase the words of Reverend Jonathan Meyer, to open its new gate to heaven.
The new addition provides needed worship space. Previously, the church had standing room only with members lining the sides of the worship space for its major services. The church was packed on Sunday but there was plenty of room for everyone and the new addition should provide enough space for the years ahead as the church continues to grow in membership. The project involved increasing the size of the existing worship space, adding offices for the pastor and administration, upgrading the restrooms, and building a fellowship hall complete with kitchen facilities.
Reverend Jonathan Meyer began the dedication ceremony and said “We dedicate these furnishings in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. May the Word be faithfully read and preached from the new worship space.”
Several months ago during the ground-breaking ceremony, Reverend Meyer talked about the building journey and compared it to the journey that the biblical figure, Jacob, undertook when he was forgiven for his misdeeds and embarked on the mission of “building a kingdom.”(Jacob was building a gate to heaven.) “That’s what this is. It is a gate to heaven, a place where babies are baptized, this isn’t about bricks & mortar … this is about the word of God.” And now Beautiful Savior has opened its new gate to heaven!
Reverend Joel Zank, who preached during the Sunday’s service, recounted the history of Beautiful Savior and noted the church began 25 years ago in a hotel banquet room which it quickly outgrew and then had to meet in an old laundry room. Finally, 20 years ago, in a flurry of activity, a church was built and it has been growing ever since. Church members prevailed through good times and bad to keep their faith and continue their spiritual journeys which have provided the resources to growth. Reverend Zank concluded saying that, “Like a constructed building, the body of Christ is a temple with Christ as the cornerstone and this new building has Christ as its cornerstone.”
Congregational President Steve Haskings summarized the generosity of the church members and said, “Beautiful Savior exists to get as many people into heaven as possible. The new worship space increases the number of people who can be reached. Our members continue to grow and to find the ways to open hearts to share our resources.”
Building Committee Chairman, Greg Archambault, agreed and said church members came together and cooperated in order to bring about the new worship space. “It’s not about the building; it’s about our work together.”
Smet’s Greg Runnoe was in attendance at the service along with yours truly, and Wayne Rodda, who served as the project manager, recalled the construction process and noted that everyone had the same goal, and that was to get the job done in a quality and affordable way.
We are glad that Beautiful Savior selected Smet to head up the construction of their church expansion. We thank Beautiful Savior for trusting us to help them construct and open “its gate to heaven”!
For more information:
Greg Polacheck, Director of Market Development
[email protected]
Menu
Accessibility