Rev. Ron Nuss-Warren (center) gives a blessing as congregation members prepare to break ground during a special groundbreaking service held June 22, 1986 for the construction of the new Alcester United Church of Christ.

Back in the Spring of 1983, a series of events began which would change the life of this congregation.

Creaking and groaning in the church building drew attention to a shifting foundation and a crack in the northwest corner that let in quite an amount of daylight.

The Trustees hired a contractor who installed steel rods to hold the building together. The repair was estimated to last about 25 years.

All seemed to be going well that summer as we searched for anew minister and we were very happy when Ron Nuss-Warren was hired. Ron, at that time, suggested we form a Master Planning Committee to search out the goals of the church and its role in the community.

Tom Cole, the committee chairman, felt our first priority was to find out the condition of the building and determine the cost to maintain the structure. A building inspector was hired and his report was very unwelcome as he said, due to the rapidly shifting foundation, the building would be safe for only three to five years.

We had two options at that time; the first being to repair the present building at a cost of about $90,000, or begin planning for a new building. The Master Planning Committee surveyed the entire congregation and the decision was made to build; a building site was recommended and the goals and dreams of the congregation were put down on paper in black and white.

At the annual meeting in January 1986, Owen Buum, Marlys Hughes, Becky Treiber and Walt Hammerstrom were elected to serve as our Building Committee. This committee then organized many subcommittees who, using the information obtained by the Master Planning Committee, set our specific ideas and plans for the many different areas of the church.

The Building Committee spent countless hours traveling to area churches, looking at photos, and studying the different types of construction for a new building. They even traveled to Tripp, SD to look into the possibility of moving a building to Alcester, but found the cost very prohibitive.

They studied profiles of architects and design/builders before recommending to the congregation that Jans Corporation, a design/builder firm from Sioux Falls, be hired. The committee, with the very competent help of Dale Jans and Greg Amble, then drew the plans for the new church building.

June 22, 1986 was a glorious day as we broke ground in an alfalfa field on top of a hill!

The big question now was "how do we pay for this project?" The building fund already had a very solid foundation due to the generosity of Clair Mitchell, who left a good share of his estate to this congregation. We were already over one-third of the way to our goal.

Ron Treiber, Roger McKellips, Erv Dobberstein, Margaret Pearson, Mac Kratochvil, Walter Hammerstrom and Kathy Broadwell, our Building Finance Committee, then took hold. This committee, with the wonderful cooperation of the congregation and the Alcester community, reached our goal of about $200,000 in only six months.

Construction was then begun and this alfalfa field on top of the hill became "the attraction" for the town as people stopped by daily to check the progress.

As winter drew nearer, November 16th was scheduled as the day we would say goodbye to the old and raise the steeple on the new. During that last week, the activity around the new building was unbelievable. Everyone, and I mean everyone, joined in to move furniture, unpack boxes, organize the kitchen and classrooms, wash windows, and the dusting and vacuuming was finished at about 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Greg Amble even came down early on Sunday morning to finish some last minute details.

When I look at this beautiful building I can only think that we are truly blessed, not just because we have such a house for worship, but because through it all we have grown in our faith and our bond has grown even stronger. We are so fortunate to have Ron Nuss-Warren as our leader. His patience and gentle way of reasoning and leading us in the right direction is appreciated by all of us and we thank him for being here for us.

Because all of you have given of your time and talent, we have created a beautiful house of worship. Now as we go on with the life of our church, may we open our doors to the community as a means of saying "thank you". As the choir sang earlier today, "Surely the Lord is in the place".

New Church Timeline:

Rev. Nuss-Warren gave a report to the church cabinet on inspections of the church building. A number of contractor-carpenters and a building inspector had looked at the structure.

January 30, 1985

Pictures and plans of some churches around the state were viewed and discussed, along with recommendations from the Elk Point committee that had recently been involved in building a new church.

March 31, 1985

The first Special Offerings to the Building Fund were received.

May 6, 1985

An additional inspection showed more movement of the foundation and the walls of the old church.

June 5, 1985

Architect Dale Jans of Jans Corporation in Sioux Falls met with members of the church to discuss some general building parameters and consider building sites. Present site was recommended.

September 15, 1985

The congregation votes to build a new church.

June 22, 1986

Ground was broken for the new church building.

November 2, 1986

Lowell Pearson (left) and Bill Larsen transplant shrubs from the old church to the new church.

November 12, 1986

Workers remove pews, stained glass windows and light fixtures from the old church to be installed in the new church.

November 16, 1986

The Alcester United Church of Christ held its first worship service in the new building, beginning with a "steeple raising" ceremony (pictured left). This was a joint service with the Hudson UCC followed by a noon dinner.

Parking lot landscaping with a flagpole was built in honor of Erv Dobberstein. The landscaping within was an Eagle Scout project by Chad Cole.

Stained glass windows from the old church were used in the narthex of the new church as a screen to the cloakroom. Many of the trees and shrubs at the new site also came from the old church.

Thanksgiving Eve, November 26, 1986

The Alcester Community Service was held in the new UCC church.

May 17, 1987

Dedication of the new Alcester United Church of Christ took place at followed by a noon luncheon. Later a celebration of the 110th anniversary of the church was held.