FLAG church dedicates new expansion

In the beginning, back in October of 1993, the Family Life Assembly of God facilities consisted of 30 chairs in Room B-1 on the lower level of Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.

The congregation has a little more room now. Dedication ceremonies were held Sunday afternoon for a new 7,500 square foot facility that includes a multi-purpose auditorium that can seat 300 people.

“We are here to dedicate, consecrate and affirm the purpose of this place,” said Terry Yancey, district superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Kansas. “It is a perfect place for imperfect people, and we are all imperfect.”

Steve Snider, a FLAG board member, is one of the original congregation members who sat in Room B-1.

“We held children’s classes on the steps leading from the main level to the balcony,” he said. “Then we rented from Big Al who had a tool shop on North Walnut, and we were out by Quality Floor  out on North Highway 69 for about five years.”

It was during that time that current pastor Mark Lehman came to the congregation, along with his wife, Sarah and then infant son Conner. The congregation also purchased property at 1234 N. Rouse and, in 2003, broke ground for a building of its own.

“Our first church was almost all done by volunteer labor,” Lehman said.

The congregation moved into the building in December 2003, and began the process of outgrowing it. In the fall of 2004 the congregation started having two Sunday morning services. It was necessary to add a third service in the fall of 2007.

Plans were made for additional growth, financed by a building fund campaign to raise $350,000 in three years.

“We’re now at $257,000,” Lehman said.

The project involved constructing the new addition and renovating the existing structure. Snider proudly showed a visitor around Sunday, pointing out all the innovations.

“Our old sanctuary is now the children’s church,” he said. “The light and sound systems were left in it for the kids. We now have three nurseries instead of two.”

An office was removed to make a broad hallway and gathering space, while the old kitchen is now a new men’s restroom.

“We have a huge new kitchen with a roll-up window and could serve up to 250 people in our banqueting area,” Snider said.

Coffee, cocoa and lemonade will be available every Sunday during services and may be taken into the sanctuary, which is a multi-purpose room with new lighting and sound equipment.

Lehman encouraged visitors to explore the facility Sunday following the dedication.

“If a door is shut, feel free to open it,” he said. “Feel free to check out our new sound booth, but we do ask that kids under 12 be supervised.”

The pastor said that, because of the scope of the building project, it could not have been pulled off with just volunteers working in their free time.

“We certainly did have volunteers here, but we also had highly skilled workers who were paid,” Lehman said. “There is nothing wrong with businessmen making an honest profit, and nothing wrong with highly skilled people using their craft and getting paid with a church check. God can pay His bills.”

The pastor recognized the volunteers and the workmen, and called Dale Thompson of Central Building Inc., Cherokee, and his wife Kathi, up to the podium. Thompson did receive pay, Lehman said, but also provided some services on a volunteer basis.

“Dale, we were so tired of seeing you wearing the dumpiest hats in the universe that we got you a new hat,” Lehman said.
But that was just the beginning. The pastor said that he had secretly talked with Mrs. Thompson to find out what her husband’s interests were. She told him that Thompson had a heart for children and missions.

Lehman showed a video on Mission of Hope 500, which is building 500 houses in Haiti, at a cost of $6,000 per house, and said that FLAG will finance the building of a house in Thompson’s honor.

“We have one more thing for you,” Lehman said. “We have passport forms for you to fill out because we are sending  you and Kathi to Haiti. We’re going on a mission trip to Haiti next summer to see that house.”

After the service, Mrs. Thompson said that the announcement was quite a shock.

“We never expected anything like this,” she said. “It’s pretty awesome.”

The new FLAG facility is now in use, though some finishing touches and furnishings are still needed, and the church has dropped back to having only two Sunday morning services at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

“But this has never been about  us needing more  space or having to go to three services,” Lehman said. “We are investing in those who come after us.”