Domus Studios' San Diego-Area Project Breaks Ground in Time for Christmas
The Village Community Presbyterian Church in small Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., just outside San Diego, held a December groundbreaking ceremony for its church campus expansion project. Following the traditional morning worship service on Sunday, Dec. 7, a public construction kickoff event was held.

"We [wanted] all to come and share this joyous time with us," says Rev. Jack Baca. "We realize that this is not about just a building of brick and mortar, but it's about building a church community that is growing both spiritually and physically."

More than five years in the planning, the $19-million church campus rebuilding program will take approximately 16 months, with completion estimated in the first quarter of 2010, reports Don MacNeil, building committee chairman for the church.

"We're also on the final phase of our fundraising efforts that have benefited greatly from the generosity of our many congregation members and community supporters," MacNeil adds.

Designed by San Diego-based Domus Studio Architects, the project includes two new buildings. A two-story, 25,420-square-foot sanctuary building will seat 592 and includes a new worship space, music facilities and administrative offices. The majority of the existing sanctuary is being demolished, except an original front portion that will be used as a small chapel.

The second building is a two-story, 9,876-square-foot education building used primarily for Sunday school. The project also includes a natural-themed playground to be completed in early 2009, as well as increased parking, improved site circulation and a new main community courtyard.

According to Domus Studio's Associate David Keitel, the buildings were designed in the Lillian Rice "Spanish Revival" style to mesh with local character.

"Great care has been taken to ensure that the church campus will enhance the community profile," Keitel says, noting that a 45-foot tile roofed tower and a 42-foot dome topped with a five-foot cross are part of the distinctive design elements.

The builder for the worship and education facilities is San Diego-based ROEL Construction Co.

.www.domusstudio.com | www.roel.com | www.villagechurch.org

Masons install the 765-pound limestone cornerstone of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. The cornerstone was blessed in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2008.

California Chapel Incorporates Cornerstone Blessed By Pope
A new facility, Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel on the Santa Paula, Calif., campus of Thomas Aquinas College, features a cornerstone blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. After journeying more than 11,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Indiana to Rome and back to California, the 765-pound chapel cornerstone was laid in place at the end of October 2008.

The cornerstone measures two feet high, three feet wide, and eight inches thick. It reportedly holds a metal tube that contains scrolls bearing the names of the chapel's benefactors, students, faculty, alumni, governors, and other friends of the college. Pope Benedict blessed these scrolls as well.

Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel is a $23-million project built to provide the college with a permanent place of worship for students and faculty. Designed by architect Duncan Stroik of Duncan G. Stroik Architect in South Bend, Ind., the chapel design embraces classical and Early Californian construction.

The official dedication ceremony for the chapel will be held in March 2009. To view design drawings, current photos and a virtual video tour, visit www.thomasaquinas.edu.

www.thomasaquinas.edu | www.stroik.com

New Report Examines Impact of Current and Near-Future Technology on Facility Managers
The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Foundation in Houston has released the FM Technology Update, a detailed report on the current state and future outlook of technology in facility management. The report is made up of 10 chapters, each written by a facility manager with expertise on the subject. Subject matter includes the evolution of traditional technologies such as Computer Aided Facility Management, along with an exploration of cutting edge technologies just beginning to impact facility management.

According to the IFMA, the report is easy to follow and is written with non-information technology professionals in mind. Each of the report's chapters is divided into four sections: basic technology concepts; current use of technology; future use of technology and its impact on the profession; and case studies. Chapters include information on sustainability; security and emergency preparedness; building automation; life cycle analysis; and other subjects likely topping the list of church facility managers.

IFMA Fellow and editor of the report, Eric Teicholz, says this of the organization's new offering: "You cannot Google all this information. It's for the most part forward-looking, with a focus on the near-term future--not something you can get off the shelf now."

The FM Technology Update is available for $39.99 on the IFMA Foundation website at www.ifma.org under the "Online Store" tab. For a free copy of the report's table of contents and chapter abstracts, go to
www.ifmafoundation.org/files/FMTech_TableContentsChapterIntros.pdf.

www.ifma.org

Left to right: Stacey Vogele, council member; Roberta Blomster, council member; U.S. District Court Judge, Donovan Frank; NLFX Founder Ben Stowe; Shamus O'Meara, council chair; Linda Obright, council member.

House of Worship Sound and Lighting Supplier Honored by Minnesota Governor's Council
The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities has honored NLFX Professional (formerly NorthernLightFX) of Bemidji, Minn., for being an innovative employer of people with developmental disabilities. For more than 10 years, NLFX has employed a gentleman diagnosed with autism, Bradley Olson, in a key role with the company.

Olson works as a member of the marketing team where he manages content for the company's website. NLFX Founder Ben Stowe remarks, "Bemidji accounts for only 1.7% of our business, so the Internet is critical to our ability to reach the other 98%. Bradley's work is very important because many times we only get one shot at a first impression with the Web, and if data isn't correct you don't have the benefit of a live person explaining the mistake. The potential customer will simply move on to another site."

Olson works closely with Sam Wike, a 15-year veteran of the company. "He comes to work smiling every day," Wike says of Olson. "It's a pleasure to have him in the office. He shares in our mission and his enthusiasm often challenges us to rise to his level."

When asked for his take on his position with NLFX, Olson reports, "I like the whole package of what I do here." An interesting note about NLFX's nomination is that it came from Olson himself. Of this fact, Stowe says, "I think that shows what a tremendous person Bradley is. He is very attentive. He often encourages us to look at a new product or technology. We're too small of a company to employ anyone who is not productive and able to help us work towards our common goals…. We have found Bradley to be a tremendous asset to our team. I'm surprised more businesses have not tapped into people with developmental disabilities as a resource."

www.nlfxpro.com

Judson Baptist Church in Nashville has raised funds and found financing to support its mission of branching out. Its new facility opens in spring of 2009.

Case Study: The Rebuilding of Judson Baptist Church in Nashville
The staff and congregation at Judson Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., know a thing or two about weathering uncertain times. Judson was constituted as a church in March 1911 at a downtown site, and relocated to a new site in 1969.

As Administrative Pastor Phil Jones reports, the church grew through the years. But in 2005, Judson's pastor left and attendance began to dwindle.

Growth Anew
In January 2006, Dr. Gene Mims became pastor and, as Jones relays, "the church began to take on new life." That new life included a review of the church's future, and culminated in the realization that continued growth would require additional education space. Judson was blessed with a burgeoning demographic including original senior adults, young adults and parents with small children. So church staff formed a ministry team, and began shaping plans for a new facility--one that would host a variety of functions and help support Judson's mission-minded focus.

"The vision of Judson is to reach our community and at some point to plant another church of like vision," Jones explains. "We are not a church looking to be a mega church…. We want to plant new churches as we grow, [and provide support] for those plants."

Funding Facts
Judson Baptist began an in-house capital campaign at the end of 2006 after sharing the vision with its members in groups at various home meetings. "We spent time sharing the vision with our membership and allowing for questions," he says.

As a result, the church voted to move forward with the capital campaign in the fall of 2006, and so a building team was assembled. "We began building our team and doing the ground work …. We had in-home meetings with our entire church over the month of January [2007]."

By the first Sunday in March 2007, $4.2 million was committed for the building project at a church-wide banquet. "Our attendance was about 550 at that time. That was an exceptional campaign. As new folks have joined our church, we've shared what we are doing in the building process and how they can be a part," Jones notes. To date, the church has received 60% of those funds.

Judson Baptist also brought national church and school finance specialist Ziegler, based in Milwaukee, Wis., into the picture to help finance the nearly $10-million facility. "We looked at a lot of possibilities and after much discussion with our finance and capital funding teams we decided to go with Ziegler," Jones reports. "They provided us with a good long-term bond structure that will take care of that financing. They also brought in their affiliated Ridgestone Bank, who has provided a short-term note to allow us to finance the balance of our project and be able to pay it down faster with the funds coming in from the capital program. Both of these were done with good interest rates and with a plan that was specially [created] for Judson and meets our needs."

Scott Rolfs, Ziegler's head of Church and School financing, notes that they were excited to partner with Judson on the project: "You could easily sense the history and integrity of this church, and it is exciting to see Judson Baptist position themselves well for ministry in the future with the new facility."

Along with Ziegler, Jones says the church discovered excellent building team partners: "We were blessed to have Hardaway Construction here in Nashville as our Design Build partner, along with Frank Varble as our team architect. Working together, this has been a great project."

Future Outlook
Judson Baptist has ministry plans in place to take full advantage of its new building--in areas such as missions, Bible study, women's groups, recreation and students. As Jones concludes, "We feel this year, 2009, is going to be Judson's best year ever."

www.judsonbaptist.com | www.ziegler.com/investment_banking/church_and_schools | www.hardaway.net