(From The VOICE of Grace Newsletter, published March 2026)
From the Pastor…
 
The most important information should be up front: The council has scheduled two congregational information meetings on Sunday, March 15 and 22, at 9:30 AM, to provide an update and info regarding the development of the Grace Lutheran Children’s Center (GLCC) and proposal for related renovations. These will be information meetings only, to present the update and proposal to all in the congregation and answer questions. Based on the response to these informational meetings, council will determine if and when to schedule a congregational meeting to vote.
 
As you know, in response to the Fresh Eyes for Mission summit and “God’s Grace for Us and Others” strategic plan, the congregation voted to move forward with development of Grace Lutheran Children’s Center. We have a Steering Team in place doing good work, in cooperation with Jon Sweet and the property development team. The original plan was to renovate the upstairs educational floor into classrooms for full-time educational childcare, to include an infant/toddler room in the existing nursery. After due diligence with several design/build companies, the decision was to work with Lehman/Daman group, a Westerville company which has experience with schools, renovation and designing/building in our area. After several consultations, their inspection of our facility together with consideration of the specific needs of educational childcare, they approached the team with two options, in addition to our original:

1. Continue with the plan to renovate the current upstairs Sunday School rooms and main floor nursery into GLCC.
2. Consider renovating the main floor/ground floor of the education/office wing to have all GLCC rooms in one area of the building, also renovating the office space to provide for church staff offices.
3. Renovate the main floor/ground floor of the education/office wing, AND renovating the upper floor of the educational/office wing to provide the congregation with a new kitchen and a larger, more open fellowship hall to facilitate larger congregational meals, events and activities.

 
At the council retreat January 23-24, the council considered these three options and requested more information. At the monthly council meeting Tuesday, February 24th, more detailed info was provided by facility/property manager Jon Sweet, as well as GLCC Steering Team chair, Linda Fichtelman. The council decided unanimously to recommend option 3 to our congregation.
 
Why? Complete information will be provided at the two, identical congregational information meetings on March 15 and 22. However, here is a brief summary.
 
+  We are desperately in need of larger, more open fellowship space. This plan would give us almost double the current fellowship hall space with many options for a variety of configurations.
+  We would retain the current fellowship space for smaller groups.
+  We would intend to use the current fellowship space as rehearsal space for the Scioto Valley Brass and Percussion Group which uses the sanctuary every Wednesday creating much wear and tear on our beautiful sanctuary. The current kitchen would be configured into storage space for their equipment.
+  The new fellowship hall would feature a new kitchen, utilizing much of our current kitchen equipment, but in a new configuration, accessible to the fellowship hall through one pass-through.
+  The new fellowship hall would feature a new family restroom in addition to existing men’s/women’s restrooms and storage.
+  The new fellowship hall would feature sound-deadening dividers to separate the space into classrooms/fellowship spaces, as needed for Sunday School. This eliminates the need for Sunday School and Children’s Center using the same spaces, other than the infant/toddler room, which will continue to function as church nursery on Sunday, although relocated to be more visible and accessible to parents.
+  Having the Children’s Center classrooms all on one level provides safety and security for children and staff, in the event of an emergency, with each room having direct egress outside.
+ GLCC director and teachers will be more accessible to one another, rather than on different floors.
+  Together with these changes, the room currently used for storage of church chairs, off the east vestibule, will become a small chapel, with a new door into the existing vestry. This chapel would be used for prayer, interment services for the columbarium and other small services. The columbarium now stands where the originally planned chapel was to be located. This would provide the congregation with a chapel!
+  This option provides much more for the congregation as a whole, while also allowing for the development of our Children’s Center.
+  This option allows for a much needed refresh of many areas of our education/office wing and will address some of the maintenance and upkeep issues we are planning to address already.
 
The big question for the council and certainly for the congregation is, “What will this cost?” Beginning this process, there was no way to know what the three options would cost, until engaging with design/build consultants. They have now provided estimates of all three options.
 
The first option, with childcare in existing nursery and upper floor is estimated to cost $1,300,000, requiring addition of sprinkler systems on both floors.
 
The cost of option two with childcare on first/main floor, but no new fellowship hall, kitchen, etc. is estimated to be $1,000,000.
 
The cost of the third option, with educational childcare on the first/main floor, with new fellowship hall, kitchen, chapel, etc. is estimated to cost $1,800,000-$2,000,000. Given current congregational needs, all that is gained in this renovation and the fact that we wouldn’t need to ever consider an additional building program on our limited property, the council decided to recommend option three.
 
Much discussion centered around the use of the significant undesignated bequest received several years ago. How much should be kept for future security, building and property maintenance, balanced with the desire to invest in our current and future ministry and outreach. While $1.8-$2 million is a considerable sum, the council has already set aside $1.2 million for current and future maintenance and upkeep of the church building and property. Of the projected cost, 10-20% would be upkeep and maintenance we would be spending anyway. Even with the expenditure needed to completely renovate according to option three, we will retain a significant amount of the bequest for future mission and ministry. Bear in mind, as well, that the Children’s Center, when full, will generate income, with the program providing rent/support to the congregation, as well as covering their share of utilities, insurance, etc.
 
The goal is not to hold on to the bequest and build larger and larger savings. The intention of the council is to invest these funds as a blessing which will provide our congregation as a whole, with a building and ministry which will serve us well now, allow us to expand our outreach, while retaining significant resources for the future.
 
Our congregational leadership intends to provide as much information as possible at the two informational meeting, answering every question you may have, providing architectural drawings to help you understand the plan, the renovation, the cost, the timing and the realities of such an important transition in our life and ministry.
 
Please plan to attend one or both of the identical information meetings, Sunday March 15 or 22, 9:30 AM!

The following handouts are available at both meetings: full_glcc_packet_for_3.15_and_3.22_informational_meeting.pdf

The following additional handouts will be available at the March 22 meeting: updated._add_on_glcc_packet_for_3.22_informational_meeting_3.22.2026.pdf