God just breathed “let there be light” and it was good. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” and we followed him. For us to keep the light going, it takes all of us.
Our beautiful church stands tall, serving as a center of worship and the community since the end of World War II. Our original building was dedicated in 1948, and much of our infrastructure dates to that era as well. This includes the church’s electrical system.
The building’s original and main electrical panel was installed when the church was first built, and it has served us well for the last 75 years. Unfortunately, many of the electrical parts for the existing system aren’t made anymore. After careful review and consideration, it was determined that the time has come to replace the church’s electrical service, which includes the following:
- main electrical panel board
- replacing the transformers
- upgrading the system to be able to handle the many technological and electrical changes that have occurred over the past decades
Electricity not only keeps the lights on (literally), but also powers everything from the heating and air conditioning units, to the kitchen in Fellowship Hall, to the computers and other office equipment. It allows us to worship together on Sundays, including via livestream. And it supports all our education, fellowship and care during the week, including Wednesday night dinners and youth activities, outreach and mission work, community meetings, and WECEP.
In the fall, the church will launch a campaign to raise funds to pay for the project, which is estimated at just under $500,000. Work will begin this summer with funds from the Endowment Committee’s 2024 grant. Please consider a special donation to this project, as the Endowment grant does not cover the entire cost of the project. Your donation will also enable us to keep the 2024 budget intact, so that our ministry will continue to thrive.
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FAQs
Due to its age, replacement parts are no longer available for our system. If any part(s) fail the church could not operate.
The following are activities completed and yet to be scheduled:
- Hire the church’s electrical engineering consultant - completed
- Assess the electrical system and design new system – completed
- Identify qualified contractors – completed
- Bid process and identification of the contractor – completed
- Site preparation/tree and shrub removal – completed
- Pre-construction coordination and schedule development with contractor, West Penn Power (WPP), and Church – Ongoing items generally include:
- Contractor preps exterior area at northeast corner of the Chapel for new exterior transformer
- WPP installs a new power pole and exterior transformer
- Contractor installs new connecting wires/conduit to new transformer and into the church electrical room
- Contractor installs the new electrical panels
- Once the system is installed and ready, the contractor, church and WPP will coordinate the shutdown of the old system and powering up of the new system. No church employees will be in the church working during that period, and WECEP will be closed.
- WPP, at the end of the project, will enter the electrical transformer vault located inside the church to remove the three interior transformers. WPP has been wanting to remove these transformers for some time.
All parts of the original church (i.e., Administrative Wing, Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, classrooms). The WROC is not included as it has its own separate electrical service system.
The current electric room with the existing main distribution panel and all circuits return to the electric room below the front entrance of the Sanctuary at Washington Road. There would have been a much greater expense to relocate all circuits and create a new electric room at the back of the church, lower level, and find a room to accommodate all the equipment.
Both. The electrical service is being replaced with new equipment, per current engineering design specifications, and the new system has been designed to meet the church’s future power needs. With present day technologies, the power system involves many more devices than it did when the system was originally designed and built.
Yes, to some extent. We are in the process of determining the construction schedule with the contractor and WPP. The church will keep the congregation, staff, and WECEP informed of any disruptions or cancellations. We do not anticipate any worship services being cancelled.
We expect the project to be completed in late fall of this year.
The Property Commission identified 12 contractors. Of the 12 contractors, eight were qualified for a project of this size. The eight contractors were invited to attend a pre-bid meeting; four attended; three submitted bids.
The following is our Project Team:
- Tom Page/Property Commission Chairman – Project Manager
- Doug Shuck – Retired Architect (Landscape, Masonry screen walls etc.)
- Jack Kelly – Church Director of Finance (Money and Contracts)
- Rob Butorac – Church’s Electrical Engineering Consultant
Approximately $487,000. We are still receiving cost proposals for some non-electrical tasks (i.e., landscaping, masonry screen walls, etc.).
Endowment is making a $150,000 grant to fund a portion of the project. The Church has created a website to direct the congregation, individuals that utilize the church, and anyone interested in making monetary donations.
In September, the church plans to have a formal fundraising program. We are discussing financing with PNC bank for a line of credit that will be repaid through fundraiser donations.
The finance commission does not believe that the Endowment Fund should be used as the bank of the Church.
The terms of the loan are currently unknown. We are assuming that it will be a floating rate note with no specified amortization since we intend to repay the balance through the fall fundraising campaign.
