May 9, 2001
Interlochen church breaks new ground
Redeemer Lutheran begins large church expansion plan
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
With the turn of a shovel, a new era began at the Redeemer Lutheran Church.
As the congregation of one of the largest churches west of Grawn took turns with the shovels, they were preparing for future members and the next generation coming to worship.
With the region's growing population and increase of young families in the Interlochen area, the need for churches and their services they provide is also growing. Redeemer Lutheran is expanding now, hoping to keep ahead of this demand.
In the past three years, the demand for Sunday School classes at the church has increased dramatically, attracting adults as well as younger students. In addition, the Vacation Bible School, a summer program for children, is becoming increasingly popular.
"Our adult Bible class is growing so we were crowding ourselves out of the room," said Bernice Vega, a member of the congregation for 11 years. "One class draws 30-35 people every week and the Lifelight class, which is limited to 10 members, already has a waiting list."
In his 20 years as resident pastor of the church, Tim Mowny has watched his flock grow from fewer than 100 members to more than 340 communicant members, with another 150 children as well. The nature of the congregation has also shifted from mostly retired people to a majority of families, many with young or teenage children.
The current church building was built in 1987 when the church had just 100 members. The new 85- by 60-foot addition will feature classrooms, a library, a fellowship kitchen and storage. The extra space will also be available to community programs.
This follows the congregation's long tradition of making their building available to the community. Even before the current church building was constructed in 1987, the congregation welcomed AA and Al-Anon groups to hold meetings in their small building
"We are doing this for the community," Mowny said. "We are in this community to be a blessing and a service to them, not the other way around. The new area will also double as a community center, for our faith family and also a welcoming to the community."
The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion in August. Then volunteers from the congregation will take over and finish the interior. An estimated 40-50 volunteers will help with the carpentry and finish work, helping to keep the project's cost down.
Even without a single footing poured, plans are being made for using the building.
"We have already talked to the pastor in Kingsley, hopefully we will do joint youth activities with them here," Mowny said.
A church building committee has worked on the plans, design and financing for three years. Planning for a 500-plus member congregation and extensive community outreach was quite a change from the few dozen founding members who met in the basement of the Green Lake Township Hall 29 years ago. But the basic mission is the same: meet the spiritual needs of the community.
"We are answering the need for the unchurched," said Bob Barley, chairman of the building committee and a member of the congregation for six years. "This is both people moving up here from downstate and families looking for a church."