October 2023 Update
Dear Third family,
In case you missed it, we shared some progress on our construction project this week during our worship services! You can watch what Corey shared here, but we’ve added notes below with a bit more context as well.
Construction Progress
Our renovation is well underway on our Forest Avenue home! If you drive by, you’ll notice the entire back parking lot is fenced off, and signs of construction are visible from the street.
The first few weeks of construction activity included the demolition of walls, ceilings and existing finishes in preparation for the installation of new building structural elements and building systems.
We are still on track for substantial completion of the project by September 2024. We will likely move back into the building later in the fall.
THE RENOVATION PLAN
In the last two years, we have had to modify and streamline the renovation design to cut costs, but we are grateful that we were able to keep our original five core priorities intact, and even incorporate some other needed and deferred issues that were not initially included in the first design plan. To recap, the five priorities of the original Renew Campaign are:
Children’s Space: Improving the space for our children to come, learn, and play in secured and clean rooms.
Space for Students: Creating flexible space for our students to explore their faith and build relationships.
Infrastructure: Overhauling our infrastructure and HVAC systems, which were constantly failing.
Sanctuary Accessibility: Improving the flow and accessibility of many of our spaces, most importantly in, out, and around our Sanctuary.
Common Gathering Space: Prioritizing a common gathering space for coffee, catching up with friends, and hosting events, much like we have at Regency.
In addition to those five priorities, we are using this time apart from our building to address some long-needed improvements to our sanctuary. In order to steward and maintain that sacred space, as well as enhance our experience of worship, the Session has included the following in the renovation plan:
Repairing the original windows so that they will last for years to come.
New platform lighting and chandeliers that will improve the line of sight from the balcony.
New tile in the Narthex and new industrial-grade broadloom carpet in the Sanctuary.
Fresh paint in the entire Sanctuary space that will highlight architectural details.
Bringing the sound booth down to the first floor, opening up more seating capacity in the balcony.
Opening up the platform and chancel area by removing the pulpit, lectern, and balustrade (the railing), as well as extending the steps the full width of the platform. This will provide for greater visibility, flexibility, and accessibility on the chancel. A furniture maker in our church is building a new pulpit and communion table to grace our newly renovated space.
Adding a ramp that runs from the back parking lot to the front of the Sanctuary (Narthex entrance) to ensure accessibility to our main Sanctuary entrance.
We are so grateful to have these updates now included in the renovation, and look forward to the day when we are back worshipping in this space again!
RENEW: THE NEXT CHAPTER
As we have shared previously in our updates on our Forest Avenue construction and the Renew campaign, the record-breaking inflation and construction cost increases have greatly impacted the full costs of this project. Gratefully, we have been able to stay true to those original five priorities, and as we shared above, we are well on our way to seeing this vision realized. And while we have seen a lot of increases over the past couple of years, we have a fixed-price construction contract which means the costs of the project are now set. Praise God!
This still leaves a gap between what we have raised and what we will need to raise to complete the project. We are planning to address this gap with another capital campaign, smaller than the first one, and will be sharing more about this in the new year.
PRAYER
In the meantime, as our building is under heavy construction, and as our leaders are preparing for this new capital campaign, we ask humbly for your prayers. Your Session has identified three core areas that we want to coalesce our prayers around:
Pray for God’s protection and blessing of the construction work currently underway, that it would continue to proceed safely and efficiently.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would use this campaign over the next six months to “renovate our hearts” – to challenge us, increase our faith, and draw us closer to Jesus and one another.
Pray that the hearts of our congregation would be stirred to give generously and sacrificially and provide the financial resources needed to return to our home debt-free.
Thank you for reading, thank you for your generosity, and thank you for praying. This is an exciting time for our community, and we have much to be grateful for both at Regency and for the work being done on our original home.
If you ever have any questions about the campaign, you can reach out via our campaign email: renew@thirdrva.org.
In expectation,
Betsy Pollard
Clerk of Session on Behalf of Session
Session: Corey Widmer, Ed Satterfield, Rick Hutton, Lauren Earley, Melissa Lincoln, Geof Stiff, Jerry Wibberly, Beth Sprinkle, Lauren Luck, Rob Cox, Andy Burgess, Mark Mendez, Betsy Pollard, Buck Rosenberger, Jera Nelson Cunningham
