BUILDING REPAIR UPDATE

On December 2nd, a severe storm with hurricane force winds struck the North Coast of Oregon. The storm continued through December 3rd and did extensive damage to many structures all around Clatsop County. Our church building suffered some severe damage. A portion of the roof blew off exposing much of the interior to water damage. Subsequent inspections revealed other structural problems. The estimated costs will exceed $500,000 and could reach $750,000. Fortunately we have insurance coverage to pay for the cost of the repairs and we have a local contractor who is qualified to oversee them. We have been waiting for the Insurance Company approval of the project. Two engineers have evaluated the building and needed repairs. The next step is arriving at a consensus regarding the extent of the repairs and required code upgrades between the insurance company, the engineers, and the building codes department engineer. Please pray that this process will move on in a timely manner. We would like to see the repairs finished by our planned 50th Anniversary celebration in October 2008. The repairs to the sanctuary wing of the building have required us to move our church services to the educational wing. We are currently meeting in a smaller "Play Room" which is quite limited in size. We squeezed our Easter Service into the room with about 135 people or so, but thats about the max. We are thankful that we have another room in the building to meet in, but there are a lot of limitations. And as long as the repairs remain unfinished the building is not much to look at (the steeple is removed and we have a tarp covering much of the sanctuary roof). We intend to make some improvements to our sanctuary and other parts of the building in this process. We want to improve the seating, the lighting, and the sound in the Sanctuary. We also intend to remodel the kitchen (it was one of the areas that suffered water damage. Since we are a relatively small congregation, we have limited funds to work with. These repairs and improvements will not be covered by insurance. We have established a 50th Anniversary Building Fund to help cover the costs of these repairs and improvements. Donations to the fund should be sent to: Lewis and Clark Bible Church, 35082 Seppa Ln, Astoria, OR 97103 and be designated to the: 50th Anniversary Building Fund.

Pastor Jerry Conklin