Seward’s St. John Lutheran Church members will soon be assessing their fundraising and building timeline for a three-phase, $20 million school and youth facilities upgrade.
The congregation has raised more than $7.8 million in gifts and pledges in early congregational fundraising, and the Rev. Scott Bruick said the lay leadership of the campaign will meet later in September to determine how the project will proceed.
Church members began looking at a master plan and visioning project in 2023 and identified congregational goals for operations, facilities, engagement and youth. But it was clear that the Christian education and youth ministries were a priority, and their focus for this fundraising project reflects that emphasis.
Since unveiling plans last spring, many people have taken tours of the existing school, with special attention to the 1929 building, which preceded both the St. John church and the school addition that connects them.
The congregation’s focus is now the replacement of the 1929 building and updating the remaining school facilities “so our children and youth have access to spaces that are safe, welcoming and worthy of the ministries they serve,” Bruick wrote in his campaign letter.
“We are committed to creating environments that are accessible, high-quality and excellent for teaching, learning, gathering and growing in Christ,” he wrote.
With the progress made in fundraising to date, Bruick said the congregation will look at four options:
1) Continuing to raise funds and break ground in the spring of 2026 on the $12.6 million Phase 1 of the project;
2) Continuing to raise funds and break ground in the spring of 2027 on Phase 1;
3) Revisit plans to close the gap between fundraising results and the plan’s cost;
4) Determine that the campaign did well and begin to plan another fundraising campaign to raise additional funds before construction begins.
Bruick said the congregation is financially conservative and is focusing on the impact it can make on the school, not just the dollar figures.
The school just began its 141st academic year, he said, and the people who contributed to the 1929 building’s construction are gone.
“They all came before us,” Bruick said. “It is our turn to bless those yet to come. We’ve been talking about that.”
The K-8 school now enrolls around 185 students, with another 123 children in the childcare center and pre-K programs at the Child Development Center.
St. John’s congregation includes a baptized member count of 2,823, of which 2,119 people are confirmed, adult members.
“Rooted in Faith, Growing for the Future: A Campaign for the Ministry of St. John Lutheran” has been discussed in small “cottage” groups around the congregation in the past few months, led by the campaign’s general chairs, Matt and Adrienne Geidel, Brady and Jill Johnson, Bob and Lana Urban, and Max and Melanie Wake.
Virginia Hughes, Stan and Liz Obermueller and Mary Ann Steinbeck have been named honorary campaign chairs.
The campaign cabinet includes Mark and Anne Geidel, Erich and Joyce Helge, John and Jana Hughes, Tim and Kari Huntington, Drew and M’Leigh Olson, Richard and Valorie Snow, and Van and Barbara Springer.
For Lana Urban, the decision to get involved in the campaign was easy. The Urbans’ middle son, Drew, is a principal at the Lutheran school in Norfolk and participated in a $2 million campaign to upgrade school facilities there.
She said watching that community raise funds for the school and seeing the excitement and pride they have in their accomplishments was impressive.
“That’s what I want to see happen here,” she said.
When Drew told her he thanked God every day for his parents sending him and his two brothers, Kent and the late Brandon Urban, to St. John, she said her commitment was sealed.
Architectural plans created by Sinclaire Hille have been divided into three phases for construction, and after listening to people tour the school and look at their renderings, a redraft of the planned school entry was created to incorporate the limestone arches so familiar in the 1929 building.
Phase 1, with an estimated cost of $12.6 million, involves replacing the 1929 building with a three-story, 35,000-square foot facility featuring 10 classrooms and two “specials” classrooms, accessibility throughout with a new elevator, locker rooms and concession areas and multi-purpose spaces.
In addition, a youth space would be created for dedicated ministry and fellowship. The main corridor would be extended and a new west entry added, with school offices remodeled and security features added.
Phase 2, at $5.7 million, will provide a second, larger gym with expanded sidelines and seating, a youth commons space and a dedicated space for band and piano.
Phase 3,with a cost of $1.6 million, will expand the cafeteria dining space, upgrade the kitchen to streamline workflow and meet state requirements, and add accessibility to the current gym, which will become a practice gym.
A fourth phase involving the addition of a small chapel has been deferred but not removed from the church’s long-term plans, Bruick said.
