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Dawson (MN) Breaks Ground for New Facility
DAWSON, MN (July 6, 2002) - Dawson Covenant Church held a groundbreaking
ceremony
June 23 to celebrate the beginning of a building project that will take
shape about a mile and a half north of its current facility.
Accompanying
photos show some of the groundbreaking ceremony activities.
The groundbreaking culminated the completion of a six-week fund-raising
campaign called "Opening New Doors with Christ." Following a meal at the
present church, people traveled to the new nine-acre site, which was
purchased in June. More than 100 people enjoyed an outdoor program that
included congregational singing, special music, a prayer of thanksgiving
by
Pastor John Norland and a history of the previous buildings by
parishioner
Cindy Iverson Weverka.
Dwight Gustafson, chair of the finance team, reported that the capital
campaign (which seeks to raise $150,000 in initial funding) is on
target.
Gustafson, church chair Luanne Fondell, building committee chair Duane
Haugen, general contractor Ken Knutson and previous building committee
chair Myron Ness turned over the first shovels of soil to formally
launch
the new building project. Dean Pearson closed the service with the
musical
solo "Find us Faithful."
In addition to members and friends of the church, Rosadelle Swenson
Schwartz of Brooklyn Park attended the ceremonies. She grew up on the
site
where the new church will be built. P.J. Swanson, a member of the
church,
owned the land for the new facility during the church's early years. The
current building has been at its present location since
1893, having been affiliated with the Mission Friends at that time.
It is expected that construction will begin later this summer so that
Dawson Covenant can continue to expand its ministry in this west central
Minnesota community of around 1,500 people. Knutson has been meeting
with
parishioners to design the building and site preparations are under way.
Last January the congregation voted overwhelmingly to build a new
one-level
church facility that will provide handicap accessibility and meet
current
building codes. This decision followed several years of research on
various
ways to provide handicap accessibility and other necessary remodeling.
Fondell said the new facility will provide increased seating in the
sanctuary and overflow seating, along with a large fellowship area,
kitchen
and Sunday school rooms.
The expense to remodel the current building would be nearly equal to the
cost of a new facility, Fondell observed. Still, she said the decision
to
build was difficult because of the many generations of families in town
who
have called the current church facility home.
"I've been going to this church for 11 years and almost immediately it
was
a topic of conversation because of the handicap accessible issue and the
leaky roof," said Fondell. "We did a survey, but we let it go for a
while.
But every time we had to repair the church, the topic would come up
again.
We've outgrown it in every sense of the word, except for the wonderful
feeling of an old-time sanctuary.
"Over time, families or individuals have made contributions to a
building
fund and people who have died left donations to it," Fondell continued.
"Little by little this building fund became more than someone's bequest.
It
inspired others."
Dawson Covenant Church was founded in 1889 and in 1903 affiliated with
what
is now the Evangelical Covenant Church. Worship attendance averages
between
85 and 100. Parishioners travel from as far as 30 miles away, said
Fondell.
Don Fensterman, project
director for "Churches Planting Churches," a ministry sponsored by the
denomination's Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, has provided
consulting assistance to the congregation.
For more information about the church and its building plans, call the
church's administrative assistant Diane Miller at 320-769-4336.
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