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Muscle of spirited volunteers saves church about $1 million
Richard Gwin
Volunteers have been hard at work at Eudora Baptist Church, constructing a new building. Nearly 900 volunteers will flock to Eudora during the next four months to help build the new church. Enlarge photo
May 29, 2009
Crews are hard at work building a new baptist church south of K-10 in Eudora.
Eudora — During the next 16 weeks, the scene just south of Kansas Highway 10 in Eudora will closely resemble an early 20th century scene.
Members of the Baptist community nationwide are coming together for an old-fashioned church raising.
Several years ago, members of Eudora Baptist Church noticed that space was getting tight, and construction of a new church looked to be the only solution.
“We thought we should find some volunteers to help in the process,” Pastor Kevin Wood said.
In a search for willing participants, church leaders discovered the work of Baptist Builders for Christ, a nationwide organization that has built 50 churches in 29 years with the help of nearly 1,000 volunteers on each job.
“The simplest way I can express that, this is my spiritual hobby, this is what we do,” said Lawrence Corley, project coordinator for Builders for Christ.
Under Corley’s direction, 28 buildings have been raised since 1981. He says building churches like the one in Eudora is God’s work. It’s hard work, too.
“These people really come because God has asked them to get something like this done for him, so they leave their vocations, their families their grandchildren and just come to serve God for a week,” Corley said.
Nearly 900 volunteers will flock to Eudora during the next four months to help build the new church. And not one is a professional builder.
“I am a critical care nurse in a cardiac unit, but this is a hobby of mine,” said Karen Smith, Birmingham, Ala. “I am teaching ladies how to drive in a nail, make a ‘T,’ make a 20-foot wall and sheet it, and so it’s kind of nice for us to start doing something like that.”
The Eudora Baptist Church congregation is urged to stay on the sidelines during this expansive construction effort. However, once the Builders for Christ teams are gone, plenty of work will remain.
The volunteer effort is also financially impressive. A typical building the size of the church in Eudora can cost in excess of $2 million. However, because of volunteers, this church is expected to cost about $1 million less.
“We plan to keep helping churches that are trying to grow that need labor,” said Craig Tindall, a mortgage banker from Birmingham, Ala. “It’s really a labor of love.”
May. 29, 2009
Volunteers descend on Eudora for a ‘church-raising’
By DAWN BORMANN
The Kansas City Star
On Monday, the new Eudora Baptist Church was nothing more than a cold slab of concrete.
But by Friday the trusses were up. The walls were taking shape. And the air was filled with the explosion of nail guns, the humming of machinery and energized chatter of volunteers working on a “church-raising.”
But that was hardly the amazing part.
The real inspiration came from the workers who descended on Eudora from all over the country. They traveled to the Douglas County town at their own expense. They paid for their meals and hotels. Many used precious vacation time. But they all came with a clear intention.
“We aren’t doing this for the project’s sake or the fun and adventure,” said Lawrence Corley, project coordinator for Baptist Builders for Christ, which organized the project and the volunteers.
“We’re doing this because we feel called of God to do this task for him. I know that might be a little strong for some.”
The national group pulled in nearly 100 volunteers to work alongside church members. And that was just the first week. A carefully orchestrated plan calls for about 900 volunteers to have worked at the construction site by mid-August. A fresh crew arrives each Monday, ready to work from sunrise to sundown.
The free labor means the $2.2 million church will be built at a cost to the congregation of $1.1 million.
The congregation’s only obligation is that it finish whatever work is left after the volunteers leave in August. The finish work is expected to be done by Christmas.
The volunteers hope that when the new church is complete, it will have more than enough space to house its 250 members. The 12,000-square-foot building will hold 295 people in the sanctuary. There will be a church office, children’s classrooms and more.
“These people have been working very hard for about a decade to buy this property and build,” Corley said. “It’s a little more than they can handle themselves.”
That’s where Baptist Builders for Christ comes in. The group selected the Eudora site from 26 applications from around the country.
Over the course of about 28 years, the group has constructed 50 Baptist churches. Despite its mission, Baptist Builders for Christ isn’t exactly a construction company.
“What we’ve done is network these people together,” Corley said. “Think of how many handy persons there are sitting on pews in churches. Think about how many people want to advance God’s kingdom but can’t do that because they’re not a preacher.”
Baptist Builders for Christ provides the outlet for insurance salesmen, teachers, accountants and many others to accomplish missionary work.
The group owns more than 800 tools. Volunteers often bring their own equipment. In Eudora, there are two hired employees. Contractors, such as crane operators, are hired as needed, but the bulk of the work will be completed this summer by volunteers.
The Eudora project is led by Corley, an architect from Birmingham, Ala., who has been paid to design at least 350 religious facilities. But all his work for Baptist Builders for Christ is donated.
“This is my spiritual hobby,” he said. “I’m using my professional talents that God gave me.”
Volunteers such as Corley pay a nominal fee to eat breakfasts, lunches and dinners in a mess-hall-style tent on the site.
On Thursday, several cooks discussed the desserts and entrees they planned to make from scratch. As they cooked, Corley guided volunteers at the adjacent construction site.
“We teach people how to do this one dose at a time, one lesson at a time,” he said.
Despite the physical labor, many volunteers become addicted after one year.
“You get the bug. You really get the bug,” said JoAnn Vines, a volunteer from Virginia.
Eudora Baptist Church members now have the bug, too.
There is no reciprocal agreement that demands that the Eudora church members volunteer for the following year’s church project somewhere else, Corley said.
“That’s just a natural process,” Corley said. “We don’t police them.”
In a few weeks, a crew from Ohio — the site of a build last year — will show up to do its part.
And next year Eudora will do the same, said church spokeswoman Belinda Rehmer.
“I can guarantee you that people from here will be going somewhere next year.”
To learn more about Baptist Builders For Christ, contact Lawrence Corley at lcorley@ctsmarchitects.com.
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