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2 Chronicles 24:7-14
For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals. So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it in return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
Wow! We've surely come a long way haven't we?
Let's take a minute to truly appreciate everything that has built up to now. 
Remember when that silly little pipe caused such a big mess?
Remember when our furry winged friends seemed like they were never going to leave?
Remember all the late nights, countless meetings, even disagreements, that led us here?
Well, I guess most of you didn't have to sit through all those meetings, and honestly, they're far from over now! In a way, the work has just begun. It was Dan that suggested doing the auditorium renovation first, so you all could get excited about the visual changes that were happening, so you can thank him for that!
We now have three fully functional and completed classrooms. That's something worth celebrating. It took many hands and many long days and nights, but they all look amazing. 
The damage from the flood is mostly repaired as well. The auditorium is waiting on valances for the windows and the cross to be hung and it will be finished too.
All that being said, we still have a ways to go. The demo crew was here last week and tore out the cubby room bathroom and closet, and they managed to do it without getting dust and debris all over our new auditorium, which is mighty impressive. The demo in the old nursery is fully underway in preparation to move the office wing. Have you peeked down there yet? It looks crazy! 
So what's next? The cubby room will be getting framed to become two new fully ADA compliant bathrooms with a storage loft above. Karen M has been hard at work making sure that they will be fully accessible for everybody. 
What about those offices and the crazy plans you've heard about that? Well first, the Administration Office will be moving to the conference room, so we will be losing our temporary nursery for now, but we have that brand new bright and cheery classroom downstairs that the kids can utilize in the meantime. The Pastor's Study and the Treasury Office will be moving downstairs to the old nursery. The Treasury will be on the side with the bathroom, the Pastor's study will be on the side that the cabinets used to be on. All that being said, any of you who have been coming to Faith the longest, remember the staircase that used to go from the office wing to the downstairs? Well, we're bringing it back! It's going to a new location, and if you peek in the nursery, you'll see the hole in the ceiling where it will be going. 
But why are we doing this? We're doing this with safety in mind and to appeal to visiting young families with kids. It's nice to have the nursery on the same level as the auditorium. The new nursery will take up the majority of the existing office wing, including our existing accessible bathroom. Hopefully now you see why the bathroom project has to be finished before the nursery can be started! The existing Administration office will be split between becoming nursery space in conjunction with the Pastor's Study, becoming the new staircase, and becoming a check in area for the children's ministry.
There are also some whispers of a makeover to the wheelchair ramp, so listen for that!
Our new pastor, whenever God leads him to us, is going to be impressed by what we were able to accomplish, and relieved that he didn't have to facilitate a renovation!
And while our building has not been desecrated by idol worship like the Levites faced in 2 Chronicles, our building and our congregation have been through numerous turmoils in the past several years. Between Covid, our pastor search, and the many evils we see plaguing the world around us, we have all remained faithful to our church and to God, just as we were commanded to, and I encourage you all to continue remaining steadfast in your faith that God’s plan will be carried out for Faith of Phoenixville.
You all should be incredibly proud of what we've done so far. Thank you from the Edifice Team for all your prayers, funds, supplies, and labor. We could not have done this without you. And thank you for your continued support and patience as we enter the next phase of renovations. 
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10 ESV
All the late nights, meetings, disagreements, and labor will have all been worth it in the end.
I leave you now with a few of my favorite verses because I think they all apply in this context.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20-21 ESV
And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14b ESV
I pray that each of you remains faithful in our progress here- God is surely alive and doing great work at Faith, and I pray that each of you truly sees just how precious and important you are to this process and to this church. God has placed each one of you here to do great things.
God Bless,
Laura Lopez
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