09/23/2006

Special to the Record-Eagle
The old Almira Township fire station is undergoing renovations to accommodate Advent Lutheran Church.

New church fires up

Congregation to move into municipal garage

By Gretchen Murray
Local columnist

LAKE ANN — If you ask Pastor Justin Grimm to finish the phrase "It takes a village ..." — chances are his answer would be, "to build a church."

For the past few months, officials from the Village of Lake Ann and Almira Township have lent Grimm a helping hand getting his new congregation, Advent Lutheran Church, up and running. Since last December, the newly formed congregation has been meeting each Sunday at the Almira Township Hall on Maple Street. That will change around Oct. 15, when worshipers will move into the church's new facilities in the fire truck garage next door.

Converting the old, two-bay garage portion of the building into a church has been a challenge for Grimm, who at 27 accepted the task fresh out of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.

"Half of the building was turned into a library, but the empty truck bay was available. Last May the township leased it to us for five to seven years for $1," Grimm said.

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
Justin Grimm, a pastor at Advent Lutheran Church, hopes to open new doors for the Lake Ann congregation by Oct. 15.

Construction began in June with $30,000 to $40,000 in funding from the Northwest Lower Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, mission partner congregations, Feast of Victory, Immanuel Lutheran and Bethlehem Lutheran and volunteer help from Gary Cox of GLC Construction in Grawn.

"ELCA did a mission study and decided that with Trinity Lutheran in Frankfort and Bethlehem Lutheran in Traverse City, there was enough need to do something here," Grimm said. "We will serve Interlochen, Honor, Grawn, Chum's Corner and Empire."

At first hesitant to accept the assignment of building a church from the ground up in a large, rural area as his first pastoral call, Grimm decided he and his wife, Anna, were up to the challenge and never looked back.

"I said no at first, but decided it would be a good challenge. It's a grass roots thing and involved a lot of knocking on doors, but my fundamental belief is to be surprised by God," he said. "It's been a blessing, and I couldn't think of any other place we'd rather be."

Grimm never wavered on his decision. Even while standing in the truck bay with a drain running the length of the concrete floor, he envisioned siding covering the garage doors, a small office and multi-purpose room with a kitchenette for meetings, and the rest as worship space.

When worship begins in October, it will be at an altar borrowed from Grace Episcopal Church in Traverse City until Jim Harris of Custom-Made Woodworks in Grawn completes a baptismal font and the church's own altar.

Currently Advent Lutheran is attracting between 85 to 95 worshippers each week. Among that number are families with young children and those with no prior church affiliation. Grimm said the church's focus will be on welcoming the unchurched or those wrestling with their faith.

"I'm overwhelmed and humbled at what God is doing here. In a way we're going back to what they did in the olden days — using any space they could for a church. And it's wonderful to see these people so excited and to watch as they take ownership," Grimm said. "A church is more than a building."

Advent Lutheran currently meets at 19639 Maple St. in Lake Ann. Worship is at 9:30 a.m. Sundays followed by fellowship then Sunday School for both children and adults at 11 a.m. For more information, call Pastor Grimm, 632-0864.