We’re almost there! Just a few more months and we’ll have the second half of our new building in Riberas finished. You can see that the boveda ceilings on the first floor are complete. That’s a huge accomplishment, because the metal beams are the most expensive part of the construction.
We had a wonderful worship experience in our new church on Palm Sunday — our very first regular worship service there. (We had a special service on Christmas Eve.)
We took far too many pictures. Most of them were taken during our coffee hour after the service.
We definitely need a sign, now that the tower has been painted. The cross above the doorway on the left is a shadow from the telephone pole across the street!
The narthex
These beautiful doors were hand-made by a local craftsman.
Preaching
Photos from today aren’t quite as colorful and fun as yesterday’s . . . but how amazing that almost everything arrived in the new church by noon! This was thanks in large part to our construction crew, who changed job descriptions for a day and became movers.
People are now working hard to unpack and get everything in place for our Palm Sunday service. We know we’ll have plenty of kinks to work out — but the move starting out well.
Here’s the almost empty old building:
In transit.
Lots of stuff. Lots of activity in the new space.
On March 22, we celebrated six years worshiping in our rented storefront church building that has served us so well. It was full to the brim — a great reminder of why we embarked on this adventure of building a new church. We will particularly miss the lovely garden in the back where we almost always had our between-services coffee hours. But there’s not much need for nostalgia when we consider how graciously and miraculously God has provided for our new building.
Here are photos of what went on.
It’s finally happening . . . the big move is on. Our last service in the old, rented building is tomorrow. Everyone we know who has a truck is coming to help move the furnishings on Monday at 9 a.m.
So, if you’re planning to be with us for Palm Sunday, Easter — or any event after tomorrow — we’ll see you in our new church home!
The workers have been painting — and it’s looking amazing! Many of the light fixtures have been installed. And progress is being made on the other part of the building — where we’ll have the fellowship hall, kitchen, classrooms and more.
The pillars will all be a dark version of the yellow you see on the left.
Those beautiful doors on the right are to our handicapped access bathrooms
Looking into the sanctuary. (By the way, the gray concrete floors will be stained a different color soon.)
The sanctuary.
Foundation walls have been started in the back.
Everything you see here will be under the floor.
You can get your own sneak preview of the developments at Lakeside Presbyterian’s new church building on Christmas Eve, December 24, at 1 p.m.!
Construction won’t be fully completed — but we have walls, floors, a roof, electricity and functional bathrooms. What else could we possibly want? (Oh yes . . . we’ll bring in some chairs.)
Christmas Eve is always one of our most popular services. We sing carols. We worship together. And we enjoy a beautiful children’s Christmas pageant. There will also be a Spanish-language service at 3 p.m.
If you click on the map below, you’ll be able to get directions to our new building (as well as our current building that’s a few blocks to the west).
Every Friday morning at 10 a.m. for the next several weeks, Pastor Ross will present the lectures he gave as a World Religions expert on recent Windstar Cruises. His talks give a context to the history and religion of the Ancient Near East that continue to have an impact on our world today.
December 5— Faith and Culture in the Ancient Near East
December 12— Birthplace of Empires
December 19— Mysteries of the Nabateans
January 2— Alone in the Desert: Christian Monasticism
January 9— Moses and the Crossing of the Red Sea
January 16— Children of Abraham
January 23— Alexander the Great and Hellenism
January 30— The Crusades
February 6— Lawrence of Arabia and the Allied Victory
February 13— Introduction to Islam
February 20— History, Culture and Conflict in the Mid–East
Since this series is going so far out into the future, dates may change. We’ll keep you posted here.
Hope to see you there!
The tower is up. And we’re getting wired for electricity. Exciting times! The first picture is the tower support — then, with the help of a crane — it got lifted on top of the building and now looks like a real church tower.
The box is welded first, then covered, then lifted to the roof via crane.
The tower is up, plastered and primed.
Electrical conduit is being put in place.
Plastering is happening, too — almost simultaneously.
Oddly, tracks are cut into the freshly plastered wall for the conduit. When that’s in, new plaster goes over it.
These electrical boxes are in the floor of the second floor — for the room below.
Thanks to everyone who made the contributions to get the roof on the church. It was installed a week ago. Once the money was in, everything went very quickly.
Did you notice the roof??? Yes, it’s here and it’s installed. It took only a couple of days, once we had the materials.
There’s now another stairway to the “grand hall” upstairs. This is in the sanctuary. Note the storage underneath — or perhaps the area for the soundboard. And the wall behind has been plastered.
Yup. That’s the new roof.
This is what the roofing looks like up close. It’s very sturdy. The installers actually jump on it to lock it into place.
We’re not sure we’ll be painting any of this — but it’s possible the beams may eventually be painted.
Roof details.
New roof over the narthex.
The new roof over the “grand hall.”
The dark room in the back will be the classroom for the Instituto.
Celador, our night watchman.