Several times throughout Locust Grove's past one hundred years the congregation accepted the challenge of completing major church building renovations. As the congregation has grown, so has its needs for space. As the congregational life and programs have changed, so have its needs for building facilities. A continual challenge has been that of providing and maintaining an adequate and versatile building that serves current congregational needs appropriately.

The original building, constructed in 1899, and measuring 38 feet by 58 feet, soon proved be inadequate. Members dug a basement, installed a furnace, and added an entrance to the church parking lot from the Wills Road, sometime around 1912. The basement was concreted shortly before the church hosted the Conservative Conference for the first time in 1917 to provide more space to serve meals to the group.

The original building contained no lights. On those rare occasions when an evening service was held, church members brought their own kerosene lamps to hang on the walls for light. When evening services became more frequent, the church purchased kerosene lamps. These were replaced around 1920 with acetylene, but due to the danger of fire, the church was wired for electricity within two years.

1927

The building committee for this project included Rufus Byler, Gideon S. Glick, Jacob J. Hartzler, John Hostetler, and Israel T. Yoder. The addition cost $2,694.75 which was $445.67 more than the original building cost twenty eight years earlier. During the building process, church was canceled for a few weeks.

But the building still had no plumbing for running water. Restroom facilities were outside for both men and women. A cistern and hand pump along the northern side of the building provided rain water to use for drinking water at church services. However, on November 17, 1937, members of the congregation participated in providing the first running water for the church building by connecting the church building to a water line which brought pure mountain water to some neighboring farms.

Expenses for building needs were handled by the building trustees, each of which served a three year term. The member with the longest tenure served as treasurer. The trustees assessed each household of church members a church tax each year, based on the expenses and the ability of the members to pay. Traditionally, after the Thanksgiving Day service each year the members were expected to pay their assessed "church tax". They lined up and filed out of the building past the trustees, who kept records of who paid. This practice continued until 1950 when, on June 4, the first offering was received for the upkeep of the church building.

1948

The ministers appointed a committee which met at Bishop Emanuel B. Peachey's house on October 2, 1947. The committee consisted of Samuel K. Yoder, Lee U. Yoder, Leroy Hartzler, John R. Peachey, and John K. Yoder. The committee requested prayer support from the congregation and on November 18, 1947, asked John E. Kurtz from Harrisonburg, Virginia to help with the project. The majority of members favored enlarging the existing one.

John E. Kurtz drew the plans and later supervised the building project. Plans for this project included a new and wider front to the auditorium, pushing the estimated seating capacity from the current 302 to a projected 595. It also included two foyers, one on each side, and a study room or library in the front, behind the pulpit area.

Dan K. Hostetler furnished the lumber and building materials. A carpenter crew working for Ephram King along with many volunteers completed most of the work. The ground breaking service was held on June 14, 1948 and work continued throughout the summer. The project included the purchase of additional land from Norman C. Yoder to allow for the building expansion and additional parking space.

During that summer while the building was being renovated, the congregation met for worship services and Sunday school classes outdoors under the oak trees along Hickory Lane, near the intersection with the Back Mountain Road. This is the area near where Paul Renno now lives.

The first service in the renovated building occurred on September 19, 1948. According to the treasure's report, presented by Ezra Kauffman at the dedication service, the project was completed at a cost of $29,999.38. Donations were received to cover this cost by personal solicitation of church members. This building served the congregation well for the next twenty years with relatively few expenses.

The building was dedicated at services on Saturday evening and Sunday, October 15 and 16, 1949. J. Irvin Lehman from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania was the featured speaker along with John E. Kurtz from Harrisonburg, Virginia.

1969-1973

However, by 1969 the building needed many repairs. The most obvious was a need for paint and a new roof. On closer inspection the building trustees, consisting of Ezra Kauffman, Lloyd Hostetler, and David A. Byler, discovered a need for new windows and improvements to the basement. After much discussion, three more persons were added to the group to form an investigating committee. The three additional members included Jerry Schwartz, Percy Yoder, and Dan K. Hostetler. Lloyd Hostetler served as chairman. In September, 1969, Ezra Kauffman's term as trustee expired and Merle Yoder was elected to replace him. This committee studied several approaches to dealing the building needs.

The committee went to Lancaster on February 19, 1970 to look at several church buildings. During the month of May, committee members visited each home in the congregation to ask the people for their response to three possibilities: (1) remodel the existing building for an approximate cost of $35,000; (2) erect a new building at an approximate cost of $98,000; or (3) do nothing. The committee announced to the congregation at the conclusion of this survey on May 31, 1970, that they were going to explore seriously the possibility of constructing a new building. Forty percent had favored a new building, 33% wanted to remodel the existing one, 10% had no preference and 6% believed that nothing needed to be done. Further investigation resulted in an estimated cost of $100,000 to construct a new building.

On November 8, 1970 the church members approved in a vote the proposal to construct a new building instead of repairing the existing one. The vote was approved by 84%, with 173 members voting in favor of construction and 32 opposing the move.

The investigating committee, now known as the building committee, met with a newly formed finance committee on December 28, 1970. Members of the finance committee included Ray Byler, Urie S. Peachey, Leonard L. Peachey, John M. Byler, and Ivan Glick, Treasurer. Thomas Hartzler later replaced John M. Byler in January 1972, and L. Marlin Yoder replaced Leonard Peachey in January, 1973. At that meeting the committees discussed structural options, the need to purchase additional land on the west side of the parking lot, and the process, already in place, of seeking non-profit status for the church as an officially recognized legal entity. On December 29, 1970, the church was first registered as a non-profit corporation.

On January 12, 1971, the committee agreed to sign an agreement with Associated Church Builders, Inc. to draw up plans for a new church building. During 1971 the Building Committee met regularly to finalize building plans. They arranged for the purchase of a parcel of land, 75' x 300' from Jesse Spicher in August, 1971. They decided in September to allow space on the west side of the new building for a possible future expansion wing for Sunday school classrooms. In January 1972, the final changes were made to the plans which were returned to the Associated Church Builders, Inc., for approval. Joe Cheney from the group met with the building and finance committees on January 14, 1972 to discuss and finalize building and finance plans.

To raise money for the project several offerings were received during 1971 for a total cash on hand by January 1, 1972 of $33,833. The building committee and finance committee visited each home in the congregation during the last week in January and first week in February to solicit additional funds and pledges. They received an additional $30,432.00 those weeks alone in addition to money received earlier, along with pledges of 22,600 and individual loans from members of $28,500, resulting in a total of $121,365.00 received or promised by February 6, 1972. The balance of the needed funds was borrowed from a local bank.

The congregation celebrated the beginning of the building project with a ground breaking service on May 7, 1972. Mary Kanagy, the oldest member of the church at 91 years old at that time, removed the first spade of earth. Construction continued for one year and the dedication service for the new building was planned for May 6, 1973. On that date the congregation met in the old building at 9:00 for Sunday School and the worship service as usual. Erie Renno preached the last sermon in the old building, "The Crucified Christ - My Redeemer," from 1 Cor. 2:1-5. In the afternoon at 1:45 the congregation met in the new building for the first time with a dedication service. Dan Yutzy was the featured speaker. One favorite memory for many participants in that special service was the sound of the congregational singing. The acoustics in the old building had been adversely affected by the 1948 addition of the wide front wing. In the new building the singing sounded wonderful!

Also at the dedication service, an offering for the cost of the new building totaled $8,684.62. The complete cost of constructing the new building was $209,496.00, which, when added to the cost of interest ($16,975.20) and the cost of paving the parking lot, ($14,934.36) produced a grand total of $241,405.56 for the cost of the entire project. This entire cost was paid by the congregation in five years. On January 1, 1978 the congregation was informed that the building debt had been completely paid. A special praise and thanksgiving service was held on May 7, 1978 to celebrate a debt free church building as well as the final payment for the cottage at the Valley View Retirement Community purchased for Mildred Miller. After five years the congregation was once again completely free from debt.

A public sale on June 8, 1973 disposed of the equipment and fixtures of the old building. A second sale on July 27, 1973 consisted of used building materials salvaged from the old building. Proceeds from the sales were used to pay for the new building project.

1979-1980

On May 10, 1978 the elders met with the building trustees and finance committee to discuss the need for and possibility of building an addition to the church for more Sunday school classrooms. A sketch of a proposed addition was presented with an estimated cost of approximately $80,000. The trustees and finance committee were then authorized to determine the next steps of action. After further study, the groups met again on March 14, 1979 to discuss actual costs and plans for this construction project. A congregational vote on March 25 showed that 85% of the congregation favored building the education wing with a slight majority favoring using volunteer help to build instead of submitting the project to contractors. During this time, the first offering of each month continued to be placed into a building fund. Arrangements were made with the bank to borrow the funds necessary to complete the project, but in the end, no money was ever borrowed from the bank.

Dave Sharp, recently returned from Costa Rica, was hired to supervise the building project and to coordinate the volunteer labor. The project was completed and the dedication was held on June 1, 1980. The total cost of this project amounted to $64,816.18 with only about $8,000 of that amount covering the cost of labor. Regular building fund offerings from 1978 through 1980 contributed $64,851.69 to completely cover the cost of construction. The congregation was then able to rejoice in the gracious provision by God of facilities for Sunday school classes, restrooms, and nursery rooms that involved no indebtedness.

Recent Building Discussions

And now, at the time of this writing, the congregation finds itself in the beginning stages of another possible building expansion project. Although the seating capacity of the current building was projected to be well over 350 without the use of the balcony, actual capacity has proven to be much less. Even with sixty people in the balcony, a crowd of 330 fills the building. During the past fifteen years the congregation has identified needs for additional auditorium seating space as well as additional Sunday school classrooms, a larger foyer, more office space, larger fellowship hall, and a ground level access to the fellowship hall. On numerous occasions the congregation identified these needs and attempted solutions.

First, during the summer of 1983 the pastor and elders led the way in planning two separate morning worship services with Sunday school classes meeting during each service. The facilities were then used twice the same morning to accommodate more people. However, on August 7 of that year the congregation voted 66% to return to one service and make structural changes to the building to provide space for worship services and additional Sunday school classroom. Many members did not like the fact that they could not all worship together. The dual service format was discontinued after August 28, 1983.

To follow up on that action, the elders appointed a study committee on April 2, 1986. The committee consisted of the Pastors Gerald Peachey and Max Zook; Allen Yoder, Chairman of the Elders; Ray Byler, Secretary of the Elders; and other committee members John A. Yoder, John W. Byler, Ken E. Yoder, and Wanda Yoder. This committee began to meet on May 22 to formulate a list of space needs and determine possible action. They shared a list of needs with the congregation early in 1987 and invited congregational feedback. After further work, including the drawing of plans for a possible project, this committee recommended to elders that the elders would initiate a building expansion project. But further action on this project was tabled after Gerald announced his resignation in March.

On February 1, 1990 the elders met with members of the finance committee and directors to discuss the needs for additional space. They decided to list current needs, request feedback from the congregation, and appoint an active building committee to oversee the project. On April 22, 1990 the congregation responded to a written survey with a recognition of 77% that a need did exist for an expansion project and an 83% approval of further development of expansion possibilities. However, further work on the project was tabled once again because of a leadership change. The congregation turned its attention to the decision of whether to call Guy Rocker to become Assistant Pastor.

Beginning on March 7, 1993 an early worship service at 8:00 a.m. was scheduled each Sunday to relieve the overcrowded conditions in the auditorium. The Sunday school schedule and second worship service remained the same. This practice continued through December of 1995 with a three month return to the traditional format during January - March of 1995. Although the two service plan was functional and did relieve the congestion of the auditorium, members still preferred to worship together as one group.

Realizing that the two service schedule was not a permanent solution to the space need problem, the elders, on February 2, 1994 appointed a feasibility study committee to present proposals and options for addressing the space needs. The committee consisted of Ivan Glick, Chairman; Lloyd Hostetler, Ralph Hostetler, Allen Yoder, Ken A. Yoder, and Tom Zook. The committee identified three main building options, two of which included building a new enlarged auditorium. These were presented to the congregation and Sunday school classes discussed them on July 24, 1994. Survey results were compiled which showed a slight majority favoring the building of a new octagonal shaped auditorium, although the congregation expressed much reservation with the possible size of the project.

On December 7, 1994 the elders appointed a building planning committee to prepare a plan to address the most pressing space needs. Ken A. Yoder served as chairman and he was assisted by John W. Byler, Kent Peachey, Jay Yoder, and Tom Zook. This group prepared with the help of an architect and presented a plan to build an additional Sunday school wing as phase one of a larger expansion project which would eventually include a new auditorium. They presented their plan to the congregation in a special congregational meeting on May 14, 1997 and the majority present indicated their support to move ahead with some kind of expansion project; however, not everyone was convinced that the plan presented dealt adequately with the space needs. Also at that meeting, the members voted 94% to purchase two acres of land upon which to build a replacement sewage system, possible building project and expanded parking lot.

Finally, on June 4, 1997 the elders appointed a building committee to be in charge of designing and presenting a building plan to the congregation. The committee would also be responsible to take the building project to completion, pending the approval of the congregation. This present committee consists of Jay Yoder, Chairman; Edith Hartzler, Ralph Hostetler, Virginia Renno, Keith Spicher, Ken A. Yoder, and Tom Zook. To date the committee has done a thorough job of analyzing space need and is in the process of finalizing a plan for a building expansion with the assistance of architects and engineers from Comprehensive Design in State College. A current building fund contains over $120,000 and members can designate a building fund donation in each offering.

Concluding Observations

Secondly, each project was completed with no major conflicts or extended indebtedness. Building projects were times for members to work together, both in contributing funds and in volunteering their time and skills.

Finally, the projects were times to celebrate God's gracious provisions. Before nearly every project the task seemed large. Yet with God's provisions of resources and skills, the tasks were accomplished with joyous gratitude for all that God had provided.