|
Home
Answer to Prayer More Than Church Expected
NORTH MANKATO, MN, (September 27, 2007) – Members of the Evangelical Covenant Church thought their prayers had been answered when they were able to purchase 12 acres of prime land to construct a sanctuary. They were wrong – sort of.
 The church has been meeting in the current building’s gymnasium for the past 12 years. Since the 1990s, members had been discussing possible construction plans. Then property, which was next to a highway and community softball fields, became available.
Associate pastor Roger Gilbert says the church had “prayed, prayed and prayed some more” before deciding to buy the land. But after the church bought the parcel, the city decided it wanted the property.
As it turns out, God was not finished answering the church’s prayers. The city offered to exchange 19 acres it owned. “So we got 19 acres for the price of 12,” Gilbert says.
On Sunday, 600 people attended a groundbreaking service for its new $6.1 million facility. The new building will enable the congregation – which met under a tent for Sunday’s service - to worship in a real sanctuary.
The new site is equally fitted for the church’s future and located in a high traffic area, across the street from a large junior high school, Gilbert says says.
In addition to the sanctuary, the new building will include offices and classroom space. The current building, which is one and a half miles from the new site, will be used for youth functions and community outreach. Gilbert says the church hopes other organizations will want to use the space.
If all goes as planned – or even better than planned – the church will move into the new building next fall.
The congregation believes the future building will last longer than the one in which it met before its current location, Gilbert says.
At 7:30 a.m. on November 12, 1960 – two months after members began meeting in its new facility – “a propane explosion lifted the church above the treetops, and the entire structure crashed in a pile of rubble!” according to the bulletin from Sunday’s service.
On October 12, 1961, members dedicated a new building almost identical to the one that was destroyed. To learn more about the church and its ministries, please visit North Mankato Evangelical Covenant.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
|
|
|
