Members of the Elk Point United Building Committee at the ground breaking on Sunday, May 2. Photos courtesy of Elk Point United parish.

After four attempts at remodeling and taking steps to add on to the current building, the United Parish in Elk Point, South Dakota, sold their building, is relocating and building a new church home.

"We are serious about doing ministry and taking care of the people in our community," said Rev. Dave Bambas, who serves the United Parish. "We want to practice the whole Gospel."

After eleven years of trials and tribulations, the building project is underway on land acquired five years ago. The congregation decided in late 2019 to sell their current building to another worshipping community in town. 

"We had the opportunity to buy three acres of farmland land right off one of the exits from Interstate-29," said Pastor Dave. "We purchased the land and took our time deciding what to do. Another church that needed a place offered to buy our current building, so we voted and sold the building for $250,000."

That was God's nudge to move forward and begin to dream about a new space for ministry. Plans for a capital campaign were put into place for the spring of 2020. Then the COVID pandemic hit.  

"We did not have a choice. We had to keep moving forward or close our doors," said Bambas.

So the congregation, which is blessed with two technology assistants who work at a major technology company, set up online worship. They continued doing ministry in their community outreach building, a 40-by-24-foot space on Main Street that houses a food pantry. 

The capital campaign hit full charge in the fall of 2020, yielding $800,000 in pledges.  To date, $600,000 of cash is on hand, including revenue from the sale of the previous church building. 

Five of the pledges came from people that are not members of Elk Point United Parish. One donation of $10,000 was from an individual who just believed in the church's mission, mainly the community outreach focus of the congregation.

"I ran into an acquaintance, who I knew from my days of doing youth ministry. They heard about the building project and had been following the work of the church in the community. They believed in our mission and donated. It is just amazing because they had nothing to gain from the gift personally," said Pastor Dave.

L-shaped design of the new Elk Point United building.

A groundbreaking was held Sunday, May 2, 2021. So far, the footings and concrete for the foundation are in place. The $1.1-million-dollar project will be an L-shaped multi-purpose space, utilizing the stained glass windows of the previous building as a focal point. 

"We want to create a multi-purpose space that is visible, accessible to serve the community," said Bambas. "The design is simple. We are planning on having a movable wall to open up the sanctuary to the gathering area. We will have chairs and not pews in the sanctuary. The floors will be stained concrete for ease of care."  

COVID is slowing the pace of construction. Delivery of lumber has been delayed until late August, and costs have increased by $50,000. One of the subcontractors for the project is a member of the congregation; he has helped to lock in some expenses related to shingles and siding to avoid additional price increases. 

The United Parish is known as the community's church in Elk Point, South Dakota. The goal is to extend the reach with the new space. The congregation will maintain and hopefully expand the community garden. They will continue to run the food pantry on the main street and organize the community's charitable fund.

The footings and concrete for the foundation are now in place.

"We want to continue to reach out to our community and grow," said Bambas. "Our previous location was in a residential area. People did not see the church and would get lost. We are going to be more visible and accessible to the community in the new space. It is our opportunity to expand the Gospel to everyone." 

Pastor Dave is quick to point out that the church is not about the building or just about worship. He shares that things like helping with the community bike path, children's workshop, hosting boy scouts and girl scouts are what the Gospel is all about.

"Elk Point United is a congregation of 160 people who are passionate about Christ in the community. This is where God wanted us to be, and we will continue to do what is needed to build the Kingdom," said Pastor Dave.

The hope is that the new building will be ready for Christmas.