Building a church during a pandemic

By John Mai 

After twenty-two years, Alleluia Lutheran Church in St. Michael will finally have a building its members can call their own. They have worshipped in the vacated Historic Church of St. Michael since their beginning in 1998, but they have had their sights set on breaking ground for quite a while.

Alleluia bought property for their own building back in 2002. They had a capital campaign soon afterwards, but their plans were brought to a halt by the economic crisis in 2008. Now, 12 years later, they find themselves at a similar crossroads. 

“With an office in a strip mall as its only brick-and-mortar presence, Pastor Jacqui looks forward to having a church that Alleluia can call ‘home base.’”

Pastor Jacqui Thone says that Alleluia prides itself on its youth programs and its community outreach. The congregation’s members tend to be younger than average, largely comprised of families with children, and they were recently given a Ministry Imagination Grant from the Minneapolis Area Synod to combat food insecurity in their community. However, with an office in a strip mall as its only brick-and-mortar presence, Pastor Jacqui looks forward to having a church that Alleluia can call “home base.” 

Aaron Schnitzler, council vice-president, believes that having a home base will enable Alleluia to do outreach more effectively. It would give them a place to store food that they deliver to neighbors in need, and it would allow Alleluia to have a safe, familiar place for children to come to Sunday school, confirmation, and other youth programs. Speaking from his experience, Aaron says, “as church council, we represent what [the church wants] to do,” and the church resoundingly wants to move forward with this project. He sees that the spirit is moving in St. Michael, and it is giving Alleluia hope for the future.

 

THE MIDDLE OF A global pandemic is not an ideal time to build a church, just like the middle of an economic crisis. But the leaders of Alleluia are confidently moving forward, with the force of the whole congregation behind them. They are half-way through the capital campaign that began in 2018, and they have the capacity to see this project through to the end. 

“When Pastor Jacqui and the council officially broke ground, the congregation responded with cheering, shouts of “Alleluia,” and a chorus of honking car horns.”

So, on the morning of May 3, 2020, Pastor Jacqui and the people of Alleluia held a Sunday worship service over Facebook Live. Then, Pastor Jacqui, the church council, and the building team went to the site of the groundbreaking. They were met by congregation members who, while parked in their cars, came to show their support. In Pastor Jacqui’s words, they brought with them a spirit of “energy and excitement.” When Pastor Jacqui and the council officially broke ground, the congregation responded with cheering, shouts of “Alleluia,” and a chorus of honking car horns.

Pastor John Hulden, assistant to the bishop in the Minneapolis Area Synod, has been walking alongside Alleluia since 2012. “The spirit is moving,” he says. “Even [the pandemic] isn’t slowing them down.”