“When you look at a construction site, you might think, ‘What will this become?’ But sometimes there is a picture that shows what the building will look like in the end. The picture is Christ,” District Apostle Michael Deppner said on Pentecost. Following is an overview of church buildings and other facilities under construction.
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The new church in San Luis
Photo: NAC San Luis
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Apostle Edwin Ernst Guigou is happy over the newly renovated church
Photo: NAC San Luis
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The altar in the new church
Photo: NAC San Luis
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A storm that brought heavy rain and hail left the senior residence uninhabitable
Photo: Frank Schuldt
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District Apostle Storck inspects the damage the morning after
Photo: Frank Schuldt
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The hall of the residence is covered with silt
Photo: Frank Schuldt
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Members and guests are shown around the building site
Photo: Heiko Nevermann
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The construction site at Ravensberger Street in Berlin
Photo: Heiko Nevermann
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The Apostle is given a traditional welcome in Tyesseney
Photo: NAC Guinea
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In a solemn act, Apostle Lèno cuts the ribbon at the entrance to the new church
Photo: NAC Guinea
Services on the construction site
Members of the congregation San Luis in Uruguay celebrated the rededication of their church with Apostle Edwin Ernst Guigou on 13 June. The New Apostolic congregation in San Luis was established in 1973. And because it grew over the years, a bigger building was required. The exterior of the church was also better integrated into the surroundings.
During the reconstruction phase, the congregation had no alternative space for divine services. The brothers and sisters were therefore all the more happy that the construction workers always left the building site in such a way that they could use it over the weekends for divine services.
Apostle Ernst was accompanied by the Bishops Fernando Mendá and Ariel Varela. He based his sermon on Leviticus 6: 12: “And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out.” The retired Apostle Carlos Jorge Milioto and Bishop Edgardo Méndez also attended because they had a special connection to the congregation while still active.
Flood damages building
The residents of the New Apostolic senior citizens’ centre in Fröndenberg are hoping for a rededication soon. The building – situated on the Lönbach, a small stream – is one of two senior residences in Germany run by the New Apostolic Church. It was flooded last Sunday by this otherwise very idyllic stream.
On Sunday afternoon it rained so heavily that the brook became a raging river. The basement flooded and the residents on the ground floor had to be evacuated because the water rose higher and higher. Some of the employees’ cars in the car park were simply swept away by the deluge. The fire brigade worked until late into the night to lower the water level. The residents were taken to the surrounding senior residences at nine o’clock in the evening, after volunteers from the Red Cross had cooked for them in the neighbouring school.
District Apostle Rainer Storck surveyed the extent of the damage the next day and said, “I am thankful that no one was injured or came to harm.” It will probably be a few weeks before the building can be used again. The electricity supply will have to be brought back up and running, water and silt will have to be removed from the building, and everything will have to be dried properly. Brothers and sisters from the New Apostolic congregation of Fröndenberg are supporting the staff on the construction site where they can.
A building site that can be visited
A church in Berlin in Germany was turned into a building site back in August of last year. The building in Ravensberger Street has been there since 1962 and, after reconstruction, will be the new home for the merged congregations of Berlin-Wilmersdorf and Berlin-Schöneberg.
On 16 June, interested members and neighbours were able to visit the construction site. Staff from the planning office and the building department showed the visitors around and were happy to answer their questions. The church building is being adapted to today’s requirements: the entrances will be made barrier-free, flexible side rooms will be built, and the pipes and service connections will be renewed.
Construction is history
The church in Tyesseney in Guinea is finished and dedicated. On 13 May Apostle Saa Marc Lèno conducted the dedication service, which was attended by representatives from the Protestant and Catholic Churches, a Muslim representative, and a government official.
Apostle Lèno based the dedication service on 2 Chronicles 7: 14–16: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.” He asked that God bless and sanctify the building as a house of prayer and a place of assembly. He also asked for the protection of the building and that the faithful and their guests would feel at home under its roof. Apostle Lèno asked the assembled congregation to trust in the word of God that is proclaimed in this building and promised that the Holy Spirit would hear the intercessions and petitions that are uttered in this building and that the blessings and sacraments pronounced in this house of God are valid.
In conclusion, the Apostle thanked all who contributed to the execution of this project.