Local Church Building Projects

Bible Baptist Church

When you walk into Sidney’s Bible Baptist Church, you can’t help but notice that it is a hub of activity. The church runs the Liberty Christian School, and the school’s 25 students were all busy when I visited their facility. The church and school are in the process of adding a 1400 square foot addition to their building. The new construction will house a classroom, a nursery, bathrooms, office space, and a wheelchair lift.

Bible Baptist Church came into being in 1974 when five families (the Pusts, Binders, McCarthys, Wiebes and Klempels) got together and decided they wanted to have a soul-winning, Bible-believing, independent, family-centered Baptist church. Their present building, which is located at 5th Street and South Central Avenue, once housed Lutheran and Nazarene congregations. The building was moved to its present location in 1912. Over the years they have made a number of improvements and renovations to the building. A few years ago they saw the need to make additional improvements, and they are quite pleased with the work that Horizon Restoration (and other contractors) have done with this construction project.

Mike Backhaus has been at the Bible Baptist Church since 1981. He is the pastor and co-principal. The head teacher (and co-principal) is Mike Roiger. Liberty Christian School is a kindergarten through 12th grade school, and its students have won many awards. More important than that, however, is the fact that the church and school continue to grow in spiritual and other ways.

Saint Bernard’s Catholic Church

If you drive 55 miles north and west of Sidney, you will see a lot of sparsely populated farm and ranch land. Nestled among the hills of the Charley Creek Community, however, you will come across a country church, St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, and you will notice that it is completing a large construction project. This church has about 50 members. Despite their remote location, their membership has increased by about 25% in recent years. This church is affiliated with St. Matthew’s Parish, from Sidney, and Father Jim O’Neil says mass there on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. Sisters Rita Rauschendorfer and Regina Murray have recently co-founded the nearby Emmaus House, which is dedicated to the Gospel and Catholic teachings, and they provide pastoral assistance at St. Bernard’s. Lay ministry services are held when a priest is not available.

In the early 1900s Gertrude A. Schmitz, a mother from Wisconsin, was concerned that her sons, who homesteaded in the area, would not have a church to attend. She and her descendants have made substantial donations to the original building and continuing improvement of St. Bernard’s parish. Construction on St. Bernard’s began in 1921, and it was officially dedicated in 1925. This “little church on the prairie” thrives today because the entire community supports its spiritual and material needs.

A few years ago St. Bernard’s saw the need to provide wheelchair access for some of their elderly parishioners. They had other needs as well. They decided to put up a large addition next to the main church building. This 2500 square foot addition will house a meeting hall, a kitchen, bathrooms, and a wheelchair ramp. Ellerkamp Building Construction (from Culbertson) is the general contractor, and it is anticipated that the addition will be ready for use by February of 2012.

Pella Lutheran Church

Pella Lutheran Church is in the midst of a huge construction project. They are nearing completion of a 15,000 square foot addition that has a large gathering place (the “Fellowship Hall”) as well as six new classrooms, several offices, handicap accessible bathrooms, an elevator, a nursery, a kitchen, a church library, a music room, and a new front entrance to the church complex. Kringen Construction Company is the general contractor. Pastor George Karres graciously took me for a tour of the facility, and he is hopeful that this structure will meet the church’s present and future needs.

The original Pella Church was built in the early 1900s. Danish-speaking settlers in the area (Peter Anderson, Hans J. Larsen, and others) wanted to have a place to worship in their native language. Believing that “God is our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1), the settlers chose the name “PELLA” (meaning “a place of refuge”) for their church. Construction of the first building began in 1909, where the Sidney Cemetery is currently located, but it was moved (in 1912) to the corner of South Central Avenue and 5th Street. That building was eventually sold, and now houses the Bible Baptist Church.

Pella built its current church in 1947 on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and West Main Street. The church was built in typical Danish style – narrow building and a big bell tower. The basement of the church has been used as a kitchen and gathering place, but this space is no longer large enough to accommodate the church’s needs. Pella’s comprehensive building plan goes well beyond simply replacing its kitchen and dining area, however. The mission statement of Pella’s building fund summarizes the goals of this project: “With Christ We Welcome, Nurture, Equip and Serve.” And it certainly looks like this addition, like the other projects listed above, will be able to meet the needs of their respective churches.