A Generations Update

The Generations Initiative is at an exciting phase with the selection of Edifice as our General Contractor! Edifice is based out of Charlotte and was selected after an extensive vetting and interview process of multiple qualified construction firms. The Project Team unanimously voted for Edifice, and we are particularly excited about them, given their impressive resume regarding church-related projects like ours. They are deservingly regarded as the leading church builder in the Carolinas, with over 165 faith-based projects over 46 years of building for the faith community. Of particular importance to our specific projects is Edifice’s highly regarded emphasis on the pre-construction process. Among some slides shown in Michael’s presentation was a graph that showed how the influence on the cost of a project is greatest during the pre-construction time frame and how that ability to control the project costs diminishes exponentially as you approach and start the actual construction. Using their extensive experience, Edifice will guide us through this estimated six-month process of analyzing each project in detail and determining how the Generations funds can best be used to accomplish the needs and goals outlined in the campaign.  

So what are our next steps?  

The Project Team, in conjunction with our owner’s representative Will Berkeley and Edifice, will interview and add to the overall team architectural and interior design firms – potentially ones that Edifice has worked with in the past and with whom they have developed a successful working relationship. Once the overall team is in place, we will conduct a series of design charrettes (charrette is a French word that means an intensive period of design or planning activity, often involving collaboration and consultation). During these sessions, we will collaborate with our owner’s representative, the architect, the interior designer, the contractor, church staff, applicable committee members, and others to develop project scopes and costs before moving forward with any particular design. These charrettes will ultimately tell us which projects are feasible (and which ones are not) and will give us great information as to how to best spend the funds we have for the greatest impacts on the needs we’ve identified.

We are grateful not only for your financial support of the campaign but also for your continued prayers for wisdom and endurance for the team as we begin the process of making final decisions about the scope and details of the various projects. We will continue to update you on our progress with additional in-person and written announcements.    

George Rose, Generation Project Team