Renovation Update November 21

Praise God! Several things we've been waiting on are now moving forward. Here's a few updates before some pictures.

1. We were hooked up to full power last week
2. Gas was repaired and hooked up to the building this week
3. We will hopefully have heaters running in the building today
4. Acoustic treatments are almost finished in the worship center
5. Final drywall repair work is being completed
6. The chapel ceiling was repaired, now making the way for the room to be carpeted
7. The cabinets came in for the kitchen and office. They will be placed and then counter tops will be measured and built.
8. Locks, windows and knobs are being placed in all the doors.
9. Information booths are in the lobby and waiting for counter tops.
10. Blinds were installed throughout the entire building this week.
11. Some cabinets are being installed in the pre-school area

This is not an exhaustive list, but certainly illustrates that things are moving along. Tomorrow (Saturday) morning we'll be doing some skilled and cleaning projects from 8:30-1:30 pm. Hopefully we'll see some of you there. Services are looking more likely on December 7th. I am praying it will be no later than that because the 14th is our Christmas celebration! (keep praying!) Here are some pics from the facility:

The kitchen and lobby now filled with cabinets. After the cabinets are set, counter tops will be ordered.





Thanks to Don Drake and Tom Aunan, the preschool has coat hooks.



Repairs to the chapel ceiling were completed Wednesday.



Cabinets and sinks are going in the preschool rooms.



Sound treatments and sound system were part of this years general budget. Our renovation has given us the opportunity to install them in one fail swoop.



Ceiling sound baffles are going up today.



Tom Sundblad and numerous others are putting a new face on our stage. Notice the teaching platform that rolls into the stage front. Parkview engineering at its best!



Blinds are now installed.



Kirk Walters has completed our information booths.

How to Write Emails

I love productivity tips like this from the What's Best Next blog. I'll be having the staff at Parkview read this one. No question, it's worth writing emails properly because it increases the likelihood that it will be read and improve your ability to communicate information effectively.

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1. Make the Subject Line Specific

Make the subject line descriptive so the person knows right away what the email is about. Don’t use a headline such as “Interesting,” “Good Article,” or even just “Proposal,” because they don’t provide anything specific about the content.

Instead, a good subject line would be something like: “Proposal for New Hires in 2009.”

2. State the Required Action, or Other Purpose, First

The very first thing should be a brief greeting, such as “Hi, Fred. Good job in the meeting today.”

But then move right to your point. State your point, as specifically as possible, in 1-3 sentences. If you have ideas that you want Fred to consider, for example, say that you have ideas for him to consider and state specifically (and briefly) what your main idea is.

Don’t just say “Fred, I have some ideas for you to consider,” and then spend 3 paragraphs getting to your main idea. Instead, state specifically what your idea is. For example, say: “I think we should consider hiring an additional widget manager next year because of the planned 23% increase in production. I am wondering what your thoughts are.”

3. Give the Background Second

After you’ve stated your main point, then provide the details.

This is key, so I’ll say it again: Give your main point, and then provide the background.

This is different from a detective story, or a novel, or any other type of writing where the discovery is part of the fun. With email, there isn’t time for this. And especially when doing work email, there is a business purpose to your email. You need to save the other person’s time by telling them your point right away, and then only after that providing the details in the event that they need to see things fleshed out more.

4. Keep Your Paragraphs Short

When providing the background, keep your paragraphs short. Wall of words are hard to read. Be short and to the point. And keep it relevant. Use bullet points when possible.

4. Close by Clarifying the Next Steps

If the background section gets longer than a few paragraphs, it is a good idea to close by summarizing the action step(s) again.

5. Don’t Forward Emails Without Summarizing the Point at the Top

Last of all, a word on forwarding: If you need someone’s opinion on something, don’t simply forward them a long email thread and say “what do you think?” Instead, summarize the main action you need from them right at the top, and then summarize the main point of the email thread.

Try to make it so that all the thread is needed for is to provide the details, if the reader feels that they are necessary.

See Ancient Rome A.D. 320

This is a very cool new feature on Google Earth. For those of you who love history, you will undoubtedly find this fascinating.



(HT: JT)

Miriam Alexander Testimony

I just discovered the site Pure Passion. It is a site/television series dedicated to helping people struggling with sexual addiction and brokeness. This is one of the featured testimonies by Miriam Alexander. Though everyone's story of healing is unique, Miriam's understanding that healing comes from knowing and loving God is really powerful.

The issue of sexual addiction is epidemic in our society and something the church must be committed to addressing aggressively.


Pure Passion Season 3 / Episode 3 - Miriam Alexander from Pure Passion on Vimeo.

November 3 Renovation Update

Well Friends, things continue to move forward at 15 Foster, though I must admit, more slowly than initially hoped. We are presently waiting on MidAmerican energy to get us the proper equipment for final hook-up. We also have a significant amount of plumbing work, some of which is contingent upon the cabinet work that is yet to come in. All of these tasks are necessary for occupancy, so until they come and are installed, we won’t have any substantial confirmation regarding when we can once again occupy the location for services. Consequently, it is looking likely that we will push back our occupancy hopes by an additional few weeks. I should have some level of confirmation on this as soon as tonight.

Despite the hold-ups, some good progress is being made, as you can see in the following pictures.

This picture shows the finish woodwork at the entryway to the main office area. This section represents the woodwork that will slowly start showing up throughout the church.



These are the bathroom patricians that will make bathroom activities a private experience.



The speakers in the worship center are now installed.



These structures will house sound baffles in the Worship Center.



Toilets waiting for a final resting place.

The First Load Returns Update

Thanks to DeDe and Brad, I've got some pictures from Saturday. Thanks also to the many who helped with moving chairs and cleaning, as well as to those who are working every day with the various construction/installation projects. Lord willing, we'll be back at 15 Foster on November 16th for services. We'll be confirming that date in upcoming weeks, so please pay attention to church emails and service announcements.

Here's some pictures of the sound system installation.





Many windows to clean!





The walls were "swiffered".



The chapel, almost ready for carpet.



Appliances getting ready for food!

The First Load Returns

Sorry no pictures today. We've got a work morning tomorrow, so I'll try to grab some then. Here's an email that went out today to the congregation. I hope you can all come and help!

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Parkview Family,

Here’s a little reminder that tomorrow (Saturday) morning we’ll be working at the church facility from 8:30-Noon. Our goal will be to unload 2 semis and a large trailer all filled with chairs, tables and several other items. Others will be working through the facility cleaning walls and washing windows including a few other miscellaneous projects. Please feel free to bring work gloves. We may benefit from a few extra carts/hand trucks, so if you have one handy, feel free to bring it along in case we need it.

See you in the morning!

Scott Sterner
Pastor of Programming and Operations

Renovation Update October 17

In case you're new to this blog, these renovation updates are part of a series, keeping people posted on Parkview's recovery from the floods of 2008 that left our facility 4 feet underwater.

The flooring crews have now worked their way through about one third of the north wing. Floors should be finished by next week. The electrical is getting close to converting over to full power. It is looking likely that services may be back in the facility on or around November 16th. You’ll be hearing more about that in the near future. In the mean time, here are some pictures from this morning.

This is the intern office area by the old kitchen.



The grass is coming in great.





Today we're beginning to hang a new JBL line array system that will now give us services in stereo. The speakers actually came a few weeks before the flood, so it will feel good to finally get this job done.



The doors are getting new hardware.



The lobby by the chapel is ready for carpet.



The nursery area is now carpeted.



Our preschool rooms will now be part vinyl / part carpet.

Taming the Tongue

This is a powerful video from the recent Desiring God Conference. A pretty convicting illustration of James 3.



James 3:7-12

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ​full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

(HT: JT)

Renovation Update October 10

The electricians are continuing to work and are making progress slowly but surely. Last week I made the mistake of saying the entire building had lighting. To be more accurate, we are still on a temporary lighting set-up that has restored much of the lighting, but we are still not powered throughout the entire building. The flooring teams have made good progress this week and additional work is being done in numerous areas. We still need some people to oversee some various projects and some people to operate a floor scraper throughout the weekend in order to get the rest of the carpet residue removed from the floor on the north side. Please drop me an email if you are interested (caution, the floor machine does take some savvy to operate, so if you are not good with tools it might not be the best fit). The following are some pictures from this morning.

Corwin Gingrich from Gingrich Well Service arranged to have a drainage system installed in the playground that will help our mulch area drain after every rain.



New ceiling tile work is getting done in our nursery area.



Jesse is preparing the floor for a special surface that will cover our main entryway.



Jim putting up a decorative surround on the entryway landscaping.



The Worship Center will be done with carpeting by the end of the day today.



The southwest hallway.



Room 107.



Looking east to the lobby.



The atrium.

Renovation Update October 3

It's time to clean!!!! We've reached the point where we need to converge on 15 Foster and get it clean! Carpet is going down and we are now in the phase of doing finish electrical and plumbing work. We'll be having a work morning this Saturday from 8:30-Noon. During this time we'll be:

• Removing tape from the ceiling grid after painting
• Placing ceiling tile
• Cleaning out all the miscellaneous construction debris
• Removing old carpet adhesive from the floors
• Sweeping

If you can come and have a ladder, be sure to bring it. Brooms and dust pans would also be helpful! Here's some pictures from this week.

Here's the men's bathroom, ready for plumbing fixtures.



The atrium is just got its final coat of paint this morning.



Carpet is ready to go down in the Worship Center starting next week.



Electrical panels are still being worked on.



Lighting is now restored throughout the building.



Room 103 now carpeted.

Clear Play DVD

My friend John passed on a link to this new technology from Family Christian Stores. Its called Clear Play DVD. This technology allows you to watch any movie you want with all the explicit scenes, derogatory language, and excessive violent cut right out of the movie.

In short, it requires you to buy a special DVD player with a special memory stick. You go to the movie store and rent any movie you want. From your computer, you download the current movie filters onto your memory stick. You inset the stick in your DVD player and then insert the DVD. It then allows you to select "clear play" in order to watch the edited version of the movie. It's that simple.

I know Hollywood considers this a violation of artistic standards, but as a parent I do get tired of rushing through scenes with the remote when watching a movie with my kids. Especially since most objectionable content often gets caught a hair too late. I'm not sure if we'll ever get one of these, but it sure is an interesting alternative for families who want to enjoy good films without feeling as though your letting unhealthy content in your home.

Renovation Update Sept 26

The painting is close to done and carpet will be coming soon. The large main panel that feeds our electrical system is being installed today. Once this item is in place we’ll soon begin to feed electricity to our various sub panels and soon after, restore lighting. This will be very helpful in the final phases of construction.

The back and north side of the church has now been re-graded and re-seeded. Throughout the month of October we’ll be tackling the playground area.

Below are a few pictures from this morning.

This is some of the landscape work on the central island in the west parking area.



Our re-grading and re-seeding in the back of the facility.




The children's areas are starting to get some color.



A lone toilet installed on new flooring. Don't worry, privacy stalls are coming.





The lobby, shaping up.



The Worship Center is mostly painted. The face of the stage and technology booths will be getting new wood paneling.





New electrical panels are being installed.





The chapel lobby.