Donations can be made at any of the Waukesha State Bank locations directed to the E & R UCC Rebuilding Fund.

Alternatively, donations can be mailed to:

E & R UCC Rebuilding Fund
Waukesha State Bank
PO Box 648
Waukesha WI 53187-0648

The setting of the cornerstones, June 2008

Pastor Gorman began the cornerstone laying ceremony by reading from the Book of Worship of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (the denomination, not the local congregation) The prayers were for the workers and their families to keep them safe.

The last stone to be added was the 2008 stone. The "A.D." is an abbreviation of the Latin "Anno Domini" which means year of our lord which dates from the year of Jesus' birth.

So, the four stones. The bottom stone is from the 1891 building. All of our "memorabilia" from the old days as well as from our current times, is in a hollowed out space in that stone. The next stone is from the 1991new addition added on our hundreth anniversary. The top stone is a "Keystone" which was just above the old entrance to the 1891 building and it says, "Ersten Deutsche Reformirte Kirche" (First German Reformed Church). The word "Reformirte" would now be spelled "Reformierte" in modern German.

The building as of early May 2008

Construction of our new building is moving along smoothly toward the targeted completion date of mid-September. As this article was written in mid-May, the exterior walls were up, much of the exterior brickwork was completed, the roof was on and the cement floors were in place. The picture above provides a view of the front entrance of the building.

Tony Inzeo and Emily Suchecki inscribed in the wet cement, “Jesus Christ our Sure Foundation” and then “Youth, 2008”. These inscriptions will be under the "Chancel." The Chancel is an old word for the platform on which the communion table and the pulpit sit. Tony's head in the above picture would be about where the communion table will be.

Each time the building committee meets at the trailer at the site, they get another tour of the building from Rick Zimmerman who is the Project Manager for VJS, standing at left in the blue shirt. This view is from the office area looking toward the Sanctuary. Rick is standing in the Fellowship Hall area and between him and the Sanctuary is the Gathering Space.

The view to the below is from the middle of the Sanctuary looking west toward the Gathering Space and Fellowship Hall. The Kitchen is off in the distance where the green thing is..

Below is an example of the stone work around the entrances of the building. This is above the west entrance.

Here is the building committee on a tour of the facility. This shot is inside the Sanctuary looking north toward Wisconsin Avenue. The wall at the center is open so that the Cement mixers can get into the building to pour the cement floor in the Fellowship Hall, Gathering area and the Sanctuary

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The building as of February 2008

Pictures from groundbreaking last August through March 2008 .

JANUARY 2008 BUILDING UPDATE
Kristi Davis, Communications Committee

As a result of adding a basement to our new building and removing the education wing of our old building (these were not covered by insurance), we need to raise an additional $200,000 to cover our building costs. In addition, we need to raise about $500,000 for additional furnishings. In order to accomplish this, at the December 2nd annual Church Budget meeting, a motion to hire a professional fundraising group was passed. The James Company was recommended by the Finance Committee and the Church Council because of their style of low pressure (pray and consider) approach to fundraising. Fred Stoltz from the James Company gave the presentation at the annual church meeting. He explained that as part of this course of action, the James Company will develop a team of volunteers from our congregation to assist in the fundraising process. The money that is actually raised will be spent based on a prioritized list that is yet to be finalized. However, the first priority will be covering the remaining $200,000 for the building. Additional funds could pay for such things as the organ, other furnishings, or even to reduce the debt depending on the amount raised.

BUILDING UPDATE – SEPTEMBER, 2007

by Kristi Davis, Chair of Communications Committee

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Mayor Nelson and Alderman Radish expressed support from the City of Waukesha. Then, Church Building Committee Chairman Dewayne Johnson and Church Council President Rick Sasse spoke about the current status of the building plans. These seven men, along with Bill Aschmann, Norman Dunn, Shannon Coryell, and Riley Brey, representing congregants both young and old, donned hard hats, grabbed shovels and tossed dirt as cameras flashed to remember this event.

Plans and specifications for the new church building went out for bid on August 15 th. VJS, our general contractor, will do some of the major construction work. Subcontractors will do a lot of the work, such as masonry, plumbing, and electricity.  Subcontractors will be chosen based on their b ids returned on August 30 th. Once the bids are returned, the cost of the project can be finalized.

A Congregational Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, September 9 th. The purpose of the meeting will be for the Building Committee to update the congregation on the progress and the cost of the project. In addition, the Finance Committee will present their proposal for financing the project. Finally, the congregation will be asked to accept and support the project with the cost outlined.

The most recent sketches of the church fellowship and worship areas, seen below and at the church groundbreaking ceremony, were provided by Mark McClintock of Groth Design Group, Inc . 

View from Gathering Area toward Fellowship Hall and Kitchen

View of Worship Area looking toward Pulpit area (pulpit and table not shown)

View from the Pulpit area into the Nave (Sanctuary)

Reminder!

Congregational Meeting

September 9 th following worship

The purpose of the meeting will be for the Building and Finance committees to update the congregation on the progress and the cost of the building. The congregation will be asked to support the project in a variety of ways.

This is going to be one of the most important meetings in the life of this congregation.

May 2007 - Press Release Sunday, May 06, 2007

"Seek the welfare of the city," the prophet Jeremiah said, "... and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its welfare you will find your welfare." These words declared by the prophet centuries ago may well have provided guidance for members of Waukesha’s United Church of Christ.

Our church has recently submitted architectural drawings to the City’s Plan Commission seeking permission to rebuild on its former site in downtown Waukesha. In December of 2005, a fire destroyed the historic Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ. The church was located on Wisconsin Avenue, one block west of the library. When making the decision about where to rebuild, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to remain on the same site as the old building.

Pastor Jim Gorman remarked, “We see this as an opportunity to strengthen our relationship and presence in the west end of Historic Downtown Waukesha. The improvements we've seen in the downtown area just in the last five years have encouraged us greatly and made the decision to stay much easier.” Pastor Gorman continued, “The E and R Church property has always been within the boundaries of the downtown Business Improvement District (BID) and we will continue to be active in that organization as time goes on. Members of the BID have reached out to our congregational leadership immediately after the fire with encouragement and offerings of support of every kind. The downtown businesses, churches and residents make up a marvelous community of private and public partnership and it is our hope to grow with that partnership and community so that the long-term welfare of the downtown area of this city will be healthy and hopeful.”

The national denomination of the United Church of Christ has a long tradition of public presence and civic-mindedness and it is the local congregation’s hope that they will be able to be an expression of that presence and civic-mindedness in downtown Waukesha in the decades ahead.

Working with an architect from Groth Design Group and Voss Jorgensen Schuler as construction manager, the Church Building Committee brought a design to the congregation in April that was unanimously approved. Because historicity is important for many of the church members, the exterior appearance retains elements of the former building. For example, its height, achieved in part by a high pitched roof, gives it a large, vertical presence. A roof gable running east to west also adds prominence to the building. A high, narrow steeple and tall, slender stained glass windows add to the traditional feel of the church building. A clerestory, a raised part of the roof containing windows along the sides, brings more light into the building. One church member remarked that the exterior elevation looks reverent. The masonry building will be clad in stone and brick.

Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ, as it appeared before destroyed by fire being in December, 2005. The oldest portion was built in 1891.

Proposed new E&R United Church of Christ

The church will be doing some fundraising to meet the target budget of $4.9 million. Donations can be made at any of the Waukesha State Bank locations directed to the E & R UCC Rebuilding Fund. Donations can also be mailed to: E & R UCC, Rebuilding Fund, Waukesha State Bank, PO Box 648, Waukesha WI 53187-0648. Pending Waukesha Plan Commission approval, the congregation plans to start construction in September.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW THE FOX 6 NEWS SEGMENT ABOUT OUR CHURCH

April Trumpet Rebuilding Update

Kristi Davis for the Communications Committee

In the last ‘Building Update’ which was in the January issue of the Trumpet, it was noted that preliminary building interior and site plans were shared with the Building Committee’s Advisory Council for their comments. Since that time the construction company (Voss-Jorgensen-Schuler) determined that the cost of that plan was $5.5 million. The Building Committee then conferred with our church Finance Committee and they determined that we could afford a plan that would cost $4.9 million in its entirety. This does not include a separate amount of up to $400,000 which will be paid by the insurance company for furnishings. The budget of $4.9 million for church reconstruction will include all costs, including those for the architects, construction company, survey fees, and landscaping.

The Building Committee then worked with the architect using this budget figure and the comments made at the Advisory Council meeting to draft a second site plan. The second draft of the site plan, as did the first, includes the former blue house property and shows the parking area in virtually the same location as our current one. Although this second plan contains 4,000 square feet less than the first plan, its 23,167 square feet is still larger in comparison to our old church which contained about 21,000 square feet.

The second plan is similar to the first one in many regards, yet yields modifications that bring it in line with our budget, as well as make it more conducive for the possibility of adding on to the building in the future. The second plan contains the same first floor arrangement from east to west building orientation of worship, fellowship, office and classroom areas. Many of the areas have been reduced in size. This plan also allows three points of access to the building instead of the two in the first plan: from Wisconsin Avenue, from the parking lot in the rear of the building, and from the west side.

Two major differences are the roof line and the orientation of the second floor. In both plans the second floor mainly contains classrooms. In the original plan the second floor was oriented north to south along the west end of the building and was topped by a gable to match the one over the worship area at the east end of the building. In this second plan the top floor is above the office area at the south end of the building, it is also reduced in size, and the second gable has been replaced by an extension of the traditional peaked roof line that extends from the gabled roof over the worship area.

Although a third building plan containing even further reductions was shown to the Building Advisory Committee, the congregants at the meeting indicated their strong support for Plan 2. Based on comments from this group, the Building Committee may make modifications before presenting the plan to the entire congregation. That is the next step in the process. Rick Sasse, Church Council President, noted that the Building Committee's challenge is to meet everyone's desires as best as possible within our allotted budget. Architectural drawings will be available at the presentation to the church congregation and will be available for viewing after that time in the church office on Grand Avenue.