Recently, Randy Shelton and Tommy Herndon had the honor of visiting Louisa UMC’s new Fellowship Hall. Rev. David Palmer, the pastor at Louisa UMC, showed us the finished project. He said this church had wanted a larger Fellowship Hall for a long time. The economy fell apart in 2008 and the project was placed on hold. However, the church desperately needed a larger Fellowship Hall. The church members looked around at several churches to decide what they needed.
They did a Design Build Building, where the architect and contractor worked together. They had $500,000 but asked architect what could be built for $400,000. The architect came back in with a plan for $738,000!
Rev. David Palmer saw an ad for The Virginia United Methodist Development Company and Louisa UMC decided to borrow $800,000 as a Construction Loan and let their $500,000 continue to draw interest. The building is now completed and their loan is down to $160,000. They have a five-year loan and expect to have the building completely paid for in one year.
The building is now complete and visually appealing. It has a Fellowship Hall that will seat about two hundred, a large kitchen, and handicapped bathrooms. The old fellowship hall has been converted to extra space and classrooms. In the hallway leading to the sanctuary, they have four giant windows looking out on Main Street and now have enough money from individuals to put in four new stained glass windows. The windows will be the Four Apostles – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Rev. David Palmer was excited and enthusiastic as he showed the new addition. He stated that his wedding was the first use of this new space. David has much to be proud of at Louisa UMC. This new addition is lovely, useful and being used by many in the church and its surrounding community.
This is yet another example of how the Development Company can help United Methodist churches across the Virginia Conference. Contact us at 804-521-1150 to discuss loan services and investment opportunities with DevCo.