Be the Bridge Capital Campaign Update--October 16, 2025

Greetings Topeka First UMC,

Our "Be the Bridge" remodel inside the church is progressing and will be completed in the next few weeks! While this inside work is continuing, we have been moving forward with projects outside the church as well. 

In regard to the portico, we originally received estimated pricing to build between $250,000 and $350,000 in the Spring of this year. We knew that there was a sewer main in the area, but we believed that it was outside the intended footprint of the new construction being considered. Upon engagement with the city this October, it was discovered that the sewer main curves to the east of the existing manhole rather than straight south. This routing intrudes into the footprint of the proposed portico. Additionally, an easement must be maintained on each side of the sewer main and since this main sewer line serves not only our church building but also several buildings south of our church, the sewer must be maintained continuously so that operations in other buildings can be maintained. These requirements demand not only a rerouting of the sewer main to avoid any planned portico construction, but also a temporary sewer with pumps which would pump the sewer contents across Harrison Street to a sewer main in the alley of the state parking lot. To replace the sewer line is costly, but the temporary line that would have to be put in during construction of the new permanent sewer line is even more costly. KBS, our general contractor, believes that between the sewer line and the temporary sewer line, the cost of the portico project has escalated to over $1,000,000. 

At this point, we believe that this makes the portico too costly to build. While we are working on other options and thinking about the best ways to use the money raised, we wanted to be completely transparent about what is happening. We will work over the next month on other options and keep you updated as needed.

While this is certainly disappointing, we believe that this is just a detour along the way. Please be in prayer for our church as we continue on this journey and seek God's will in all that we do!

Additionally, to keep you updated on recovering the stained-glass windows with new vinyl coverings, two bids have been received. We are waiting until the spring to move forward with this portion of the project.

Be the Bridge Executive Team

Jaena Greenwood, Dave Norton, Bill Naeger, Pastor Brad, Pastor Grace, & Shawna Heien