FEATURE STORY: They wield hammers as part of their Christian walk

c. 1999 Religion News Service MADISON, Ala. _ The overcast sky and intermittent drizzle doesn’t stop the work or dampen the spirits. A drill whirs and a hammer pounds as walls rise and laborers roll insulation into place. The voices of workers echo off concrete as they drag ladders from beam to beam. A church […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

MADISON, Ala. _ The overcast sky and intermittent drizzle doesn’t stop the work or dampen the spirits. A drill whirs and a hammer pounds as walls rise and laborers roll insulation into place. The voices of workers echo off concrete as they drag ladders from beam to beam.

A church is going up.


Laborers for Christ, an organized group of Christian volunteers, is at work on the half-finished chapel of Faith Lutheran Church in Madison.

“We hope to be finished by Easter,” said Bob Timm, LFC foreman.

Faith Lutheran Church, now located in a storefront building, needed a place to grow, so they called on the LFC.

“If you have been in a storefront for five years,” said Tom Cousins, a member of the congregation, “you have probably been there for one year too long.”

A meeting was scheduled with LFC regional representatives to look over plans, evaluate the budget and ensure what the church wanted was possible by the laborers. Early last October, the first LFC volunteers arrived in Madison.

The volunteers come from virtually all walks of life and from all over the country. Some have construction experience; many do not. Their pay _ minimum wage _ rarely covers their expenses. Given a list of upcoming projects, they have the opportunity to volunteer when and where they like. They normally travel to the project in RVs or motor homes where they usually live during their stay. Up to 10 families, both husbands and wives, may be involved in a project.

“Nobody on the job breaks even,” Timm said.

Timm, who has been on the Madison site since the beginning, said volunteers do not move as crews, but only as individuals and average one or two projects a year.

LFC began in the early 1980s as an offshoot of an effort to help Lutheran churches in Utah build places of worship. LFC will tackle more than 30 projects a year, each one lasting an average of three to four months, although some can last longer.

Although a separate entity, the LFC is associated with and works on projects only for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. LFC is funded through contributions and the fees that it collects from each project.


Approximately 600 registered LFC volunteers have expressed an interest in working on LFC projects and have had the prerequisite physical exams. These volunteers travel nationwide and occasionally to overseas missions.

Timm, who with his wife, Peggy, began with LFC in 1989, is on his 13th project as foreman. It is his job to pick the volunteers, schedule delivery for materials, coordinate with contractors involved in the project, and work with the local congregation.

The local congregation is an essential part of any work that is done. Not only do the members initiate the project by contacting LFC, they become a do-it-yourself contractor to supervise its completion.

“We like for the local congregation to do about 60 percent of the work,” Timm said.

Cousins, who has found himself putting in 20 hours a week on the construction of the church, knows the value of the LFC’s help.

“It’s a Catch-22,” Cousins said. “It is hard to grow without building a church, but with a small congregation it’s hard to find the money.”


The Rev. James Edge, pastor of the church since last August, agreed that having the LFC involved means having a “well-built structure.”

Without the LFC’s help, “We couldn’t do it in this time frame,” Cousins said of the project which has been talked about for nearly as long as the church has existed.

Church members work, too, when they have time. Some come on weekends, others at night. Their LFC visitors in turn become very involved in the local church, in addition to the construction, by putting on programs and attending services.

“LFC was much more than a labor force,” Edge said, “They became part of the church.”

The LFC volunteers work a 40-hour week beginning at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday. They take an hour for lunch, with breaks in the morning and afternoon. This schedule gives those members of the local congregation who can’t work during the week a day to come in and put their talents, skills and enthusiasm to good use on a Saturday.

“The key thing is that people work with you that you didn’t know at all and within days you felt like neighbors,” said David Prevallet who, with his wife, Gladys, is on his first project for LFC.


The Prevallets became familiar with the LFC during the building of their own church in Laurens, S.C. Both were on the church building committee and worked firsthand with LFC volunteers.

For Damon Kettler from Paola, Kan., working with the LFC is just a continuation of his life’s work. Kettler, who is here with his wife, June, worked for a home contractor until his retirement. Listed as assistant foreman, Kettler joined LFC in 1987 and is on his 22nd project.

“The Lord gave me a talent and after I retired, I thought that I might as well use it,” said Kettler.

Although the LFC is a Lutheran organization, some volunteers come from other denominations.

Bob Montle, retired insurance agent from Washington, is a Presbyterian who is on his second project with LFC. He and his wife, Betty, became interested when they met a Laborer in an RV park in Tucson.

Harry and Jewel Jensen are Nebraska Methodists who learned about LFC through square dance partners. They are in their fifth year with the organization.

Jensen summed up the what may be the primary motivation of most of the volunteers: “When you leave (the site) you can say, `I helped do that.”’


Timm added, “You do it as a labor of love, love of the Lord. If you don’t like this, you’re not here. You have to be dedicated to the concept.”

DEA END DAVIS

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