Our Church Building Project
It’s been over a year since we had our ground breaking ceremony. So much work was done “underground” the first several months of construction. Footings were poured, duct work  and tubing installed and more.
Listed below are details of the Construction Meeting on May 24th. Construction meetings are held on Wednesdays (and submitting articles for our bulletin is on Tuesdays). Therefore I am not able to share updates from the May 31st meeting.
May 24th Construction Meeting notes:
The main entry floor has been poured. More work is being done in the main church area before that floor can be poured.
The concrete planks (flooring for the choir loft) were delivered; brick will be arriving this week. Laying the brick may start around June 10th.
Structural steel continues to be installed.
In the office addition all the interior door frames and backing are installed. Cabinets for the meeting rooms will be ready by July 17th.
The floor tile for the restrooms will be installed around June 22nd. 
In the church, floor heat coils will be installed starting June 5th.

Building Fund Financial Report
The financial report for our building project is listed below. It includes all of the pledges and donations given to the Building Fund since January 1,2022. It also lists our expenditures up to May 31, 2023.  We have not withdrawn any funds from our loan from the Diocese of Fargo. We have paid all of our bills from our building savings and checking accounts. Soon, we will have to withdraw from our loan account.

July 16, 2023
In the past week and a half, concrete has been poured for our church floors. This was able to take place because all the wiring, floor heating coils were laid and tested. Brick continues to be put in place. In our new office addition, sheetrock has been installed, walls textured and painted.

May 21, 2023
As I mentioned before, we’ve had about seven different crews working on our church and office addition project. Much of the work these past several months were not very visible from the street.
But now, much work is being done on the office addition. Wiring, plumbing has been installed. Sheetrock is going up. The office addition may be ready in June.
Some cement work has been done in the church area. Pouring the floor of the gathering space is completed.. Duct work on the main church is being done.
Because of the spring melt and recent rains, some heavy equipment is not able to be onsite for projects such as pouring the floor for the new church. That particular project may take several days to complete or maybe up to two weeks.

April 30, 2023
Work is progressing on our office addition. Hopefully, it will be ready for us around June.
Seven various crews have been working on our building project at this time. Much of the work that is being done is not visible from the street. For example, not all the air duct work below the church was completed last fall before freeze-up. Some work was done with thawing the ground through the winter. It was a slow process.  When the air duct work underneath the main church is completed, we will see a lot of steel being erected.

March 26, 2023
It’s been a couple of weeks since I had the chance to attend the weekly Wednesday Construction meeting due to either a cancellation because of a winter storm or a schedule conflict. Here are some notes from the meeting on March 15th:
· Since January, not much construction has taken place due to the harsh weather conditions. Usually, the workers could only put in a couple days of work per week.
· Air duct work is still being done. This means thawing the ground so large air ducts (4 feet in diameter) could be installed. Actually, the thawing process has gone better because of exposure to more intense sun rays.
· After the ducts are completed (in about 3 weeks), more steel will be erected around the back side of the church structure.
· Steel beams: it may not seem like much work is being done on the erected steel that is already in place. The steel that is up is not completed. It’s not only connecting them together with bolts and nuts; the beams must be welded. That’s what is happening right now.
· In about three weeks, more steel will be erected.

February 5, 2023
Year End 2022 Update:
Financial Update
1) Expenses: Incurred from 2017 through 2022
                 Total $4,241,125
 
2) Income:  Donations from 2017 through 2022
                 Total $6,803,036
 
3) Total Cash on Hand    $2,561,911
 
4)  Remaining Pledges:  Current total 2023 and beyond
Total $4,869,135
 
5) Financial Commitment:  Cash + Pledged.
Total $11,672,171
 
Construction Estimate
Current Estimated Total:     $23,100,000. 
Considerable work has been done to control the total cost of our Project.  Design alternatives were reviewed and, in several situations, lower costs were obtained while maintaining the functionality and beauty of the Church.  Approximately 90% of the construction cost has been bid and set. We also faced the challenge of inflation in the four quarters of 2022 – which amounted to 32.6% in increased costs.
 
Funding required:
We have been approved for a Construction Loan from the Catholic Church Deposit and Loan Fund for $16.2 million.  As construction progresses, a monthly draw on this loan will occur until the construction is finished, at which time the balance will be turned into a mortgage loan.   
 
The total loan depends on current pledges being kept along with new pledges and donations in the coming years.  We currently need to raise an estimated $11,500,000.
 
I am extremely grateful to all members who have given and with particular gratitude to non-members who have so generously gifted to this project.  Currently 21% of our members have contributed and with the help of the additional members and donors who believe in this new church, we can achieve the balance to be raised.
We will continue to keep open the current Capital Campaign Drive and will update regularly on the progress.
 
REMEMBER: “TOGETHER WE BUILD”.

November 6, 2022
Because of the beautiful weather we’ve been blessed with, we have been able to do more paving than planned. More concrete is being poured for our parking areas and curbs.
Duct work for beneath the church is being installed. We were able to get the fittings that are needed for this project. It was on back order. As a result, erecting the steel will not be delayed or put on hold. I am so grateful for the person who made this possible.

As previously mentioned, the tower (steeple) will be erected first. This will be more economical because lifts can work on all four sides before the rest of the steel is installed for the new church.

Bids for the office interior finishes are being done. As of now, our building project is on schedule.

June 19, 2022
Next week, the foundation will be poured for the office and entrance areas! The delay was caused by a need for Rebar and a shortage of concrete.  We are excited to see progress being made!

May 29, 2022
Our “Together We Build” Campaign
Thank you to the 70 plus parishioners who committed to making a pledge for our building campaign last weekend. We need everyone to come forward to help us as a family of faith to reach our $4 million campaign goal. That’s what the feasibility study showed us we could raise in this phase. We are grateful for the $5 million challenge grant for our building project. Hopefully, that will provide an incentive to make a sacrificial pledge. As of this past Tuesday, our donations and pledges total over $2 million. However, we have not counted the pledges that were given last week. Let us pray for the success of our campaign.

May 22, 2022
What a Great Day!
Our Groundbreaking Ceremony last Monday was an important day for our parish. It was such an inspiring day. We were overwhelmed with the large attendance and all the support we received! Also, a special thank you to Robert Franzen of Bismarck, ND who offered a challenge matching grant of $5 million. We are so grateful to you!
We are now preparing to move forward on our final phase! We are going to build our Church!

Thank you to all who made this day possible: parishioners, committee members, Fr Jim Meyer, donors from outside of our parish and the Diocese of Fargo.
Our construction date was moved to June 1^st. However, we just found out that it will begin on May 26^th.