by Pastor Dan Baumgartner

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. - Psalm 127

The year is 1929. A very large brick building goes up on Queen Anne Avenue, sitting on top of a hill booming with new housing starts, park developments and street additions. The building is the sanctuary and education wing for a church, Bethany Presbyterian, which wants to move up from lower Queen Anne. The building is beautiful, with a huge stained glass window and a soaring steeple. The congregation begins to meet in the modern, light-filled sanctuary.

Fast forward 80 years. The year is 2009. The Bethany Presbyterian community has been anchored on Queen Anne Avenue for eight decades. The hill has drastically changed, 25,000 people live in the nearby vicinity and the Ave is a thriving business district with an increasingly urban mix of apartments, condos and retail located on a major bus line.

Bethany Presbyterian has grown and changed along with it. Three houses around the corner are owned by the church, currently housing staff offices, a residential community of youth leaders, and a busy Youth House. The offices are connected to the church building by a large Fellowship Hall, built in 1993. The congregation is a mix of generations, weighted towards the younger side with thriving Children’s and Youth ministries.

The buildings are full of activities. Worship gatherings three times every Sunday. Classes on faith, bible, and parenting. Healing prayer times, Alpha groups, book discussions. The Wednesday Night Dinner community is a major ministry area for the church, serving 200 people each week with dinner, companions, haircuts, clothing and housing assistance.

Weddings, memorial services, art expressions, musical feasts, mission gatherings and small groups roll in and out of the church doors, pointing the community both inside and outside of the building to Jesus. The broader Queen Anne community is involved in many ways as well- Holiday Magic, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, community forums and a preschool all keep the Bethany door hinges moving.

Two things haven’t changed in these 80 years in terms of the physical Bethany campus. First, we still have the same number of parking spots- one! Second, the original brick buildings (sanctuary, children’s wing)…are still the original brick buildings. Weather and time have caused normal wear and tear on the
structures. In recent years we have re-anchored some portions of brick, rebuilt a chimney and set aside a few funds knowing that eventually there would be major “structural reinforcement” work to do. Last year our Session (led by Steve Jones) engaged a structural engineering firm to give us some hard data on the state of our buildings.

The information from the engineering report makes it clear that Bethany needs to undertake a major reinforcement project to keep people in the older buildings safe in the event of a major seismic movement. This is not an optional project we can weigh or wait on at this point. The primary motivation is safety. As we get into the project, we may choose to include some other renovations simultaneously, but they would be secondary and far less substantial. No big bells and whistles, no new wings or frills. Earthquake safety is priority #1. Here’s a rough review of past, present and future steps:

Step #1 was the structural engineering evaluation completed in 2009, which verified the inadequacy of the original buildings in a major seismic event and the need for reinforcement work. There was not much knowledge about seismic forces and how these could be resisted in 1929.

During the 20th century, every major earthquake was studied and building codes and technologies upgraded accordingly. Masonry structures, such as Bethany Church, although durable to weather and resistant to fire, have been very prone to damage and failure in seismic events.

This project will be to reinforce the existing structure with additional concrete and steel members in a manner that has the least possible impact on the appearance and function of the church. Bethany’s “Landmark” status requires that the work be done with delicacy, maintaining the historic structure’s character. In particular, the “shearwalling” of the children’s wing, and substantial reinforcement of the sanctuary have been recommended.

The most complicated part of the sanctuary project is providing significant reinforcement for the base of the tower which rises above the east end of the sanctuary. Along with that comes a pressing need to reinforce the sanctuary walls, and the tower structure itself.

Step #2 was assembling a team to work on this project. And we are incredibly blessed to have a varied and exceedingly knowledgeable group to do so. At the November meeting, Session approved an initial team of: John Battle (team leader, building design and construction management background), David Yuan (architect), Dan Wickline (Bethany elder for Facilities and also an architect), Janette Plunkett (Bethany stewardship elder) and Mike Christensen (Bethany Facilities staff and a builder). Dave Westburg and Greg Nelson will head up the financial campaign. Many other people will be added to this core as the project unfolds.

Step #3 is for this Team to locate and recommend the best architect (Jan/Feb 2010) for the project so that we can begin permitting conversations with the City of Seattle and the Landmark Board, and also have more definite ideas as to project possibilities and costs.

Step #4 will be some open input meetings (Feb 2010) with our congregation to move towards more specific plans, consider other possible improvements, talk about tithing/mission opportunities and strategize for the large financial commitment.

These steps would be followed by approving an initial design scheme (April 2010), selecting a contractor (May 2010) and starting the construction (Fall 2010). All dates are exceedingly tentative at this point. In addition, sometime in early 2010 we would begin fundraising. Certainly the numbers will depend on the decisions made as to scope and specifics of the project, but it will be significant, as much or more than we spend on our operating budget each year- which is currently about $1.5 million.

In the ten years I’ve been at Bethany as pastor, we have had the luxury of not having to over communicate about finances and facilities. In fact, people often comment that it is refreshing to not have to hear about capital campaigns and buildings and budgets on a weekly basis. Our congregation is incredibly generous, and I feel great about the approach we take to budgeting and fundraising. This project will stretch us. We haven’t had to do a major project since the Fellowship Hall was built sixteen years ago.

As Session started to wrestle with the reality of a major reinforcement project, we began with some dreaming. What might Bethany’s ministry in this community look like 10 and 20 and 30 years into the future? How will Jesus be proclaimed on Queen Anne, in Seattle and around the world in ways connected with this gathering of people on top of a hill in Seattle? We are in a strategic location. We know God has been faithful to empower Bethany to be a strong presence for Christ.

So. Fast-forward 25 years. It’s 2034, and Bethany Presbyterian Church is an anchor of the Queen Anne neighborhood. Its front yard is the only open space on the Ave, and has become more and more of a gathering spot for all kinds of people. This community, rooted in Jesus Christ enjoys a solid and safe building and is busy living out its Brief Statement of Purpose (2007): We believe God intends for our worshipping community to be grounded in God’s love, centered on Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to be a blessing to our world, our city and one another.

 

[Stay tuned - a congregational meeting will be scheduled after the first of the year to give more information and receive questions.]