Proposed Design for
Annunciation
of the Virgin Mary
Orthodox Christian Church
in St. James, Missouri
The Commission, The Effort, and The Obstacles
Seeing our growth during his archpastoral visit in 2018, Archbishop Paul of blessed memory told us to build a new building “as soon as possible.”
Since that time we have saved and raised nearly $60,000 for this purpose.
However, we were also met with a worldwide pandemic that displaced most of our community (only a handful of our original group remain). We saw building material costs skyrocket, as well as inflation in general, and now find it nearly impossible to hire reliable construction personnel to help us build anything affordably.
“God Does Whatever He Pleases...”
By God's grace and the Mother of God's intercessions, since August 2021, we have miraculously welcomed ten new families to Annunciation both locally and from Texas, Georgia, Florida, California, Colorado, and Washington.
Our average Sunday attendance has gone from 20 to 80 in less than a year. Our current building can only fit about 70 people in it, and some have to stand outside.
We have Chrismated 15 new members in 2022, and still have 13 catechumens and 8 inquirers. Additionally, we have just successfully completed our first year of a weekly homeschool co-op with over 40 children, utilizing our current building space and our priest's home for education.
With this number of people now we are now in great need of a new building to fit our explosion of life.
Plans Grown from Our Vision
Since being founded in 2013, our vision has always been to build sustainably, both in size and materials: Large enough for 120 people, so that when that number is reached we can begin planting new missions around us; and strong enough to last for hundreds of years.
With this in mind, we have hired Andrew Gould of New World Byzantine Studios to consult us and design our new temple building.
When building an Orthodox temple, the desire is that it remain until the Second Coming of Christ, “to ages of ages,” as we pray in the service of The Founding of a New Temple:
“And do Thou speedily bring to completion by Thy divine might, this temple and this altar, which now have received a beginning, that in it and on it, even to the end of the ages, the glory of Thy most-holy Name, and Thy Bloodless, rational Sacrifices may be offered up and fulfilled to Thee unceasingly without any hindrance, by Thine Orthodox people, for with Thee all things are possible.”
Cordwood Construction
In addition to a sustainable size, we have also explored a simpler construction method which will also greatly increase the durability and longevity of our new building: Cordwood Construction.
This method has shown to be the most efficient, long lasting, and viable for our area here in south central Missouri. In fact, our land already has some of the timber we can use to build the 24" thick walls for our new church.
Cordwood Construction is a method that has been used for centuries, with a building in Germany still standing after 1,000 years! Learn more »
In the beginning of July, we hosted a “mock wall build,” to test the feasibility of this method.
For an 8' x 4' section, from start to finish—debarking and cutting the logs to length, mixing mortar, and laying the logs—it took our community (even with kids) a little over an hour to complete.
The ease and simplicity of this type of construction coupled with the fact that we have multiple members of our community in the construction industry, we feel very comfortable moving forward using a combination of timber frame and cordwood masonry for building our temple.
Our Timeline & Milestones Along the Way
— These dates are fictional and for planning and timing purposes only. —
We are currently unable to find bids within our price range for the timber frame, which must be completed before anything else can begin. Once we have that figured out we can move forward with everything else.
August 15-31
- Order Timber Frame
- Order Culvert
- Order HVAC
- Initiate Builder's Risk & Worker's Comp Policies
- Begin Clearing Trees
September 1
- Break Ground Ceremony
- Order Cedar Logs, Windows & Doors, and Well
- Order Roof Materials
- Order Floor Tile
- Order Gravel
September 6-16
- Begin Excavation / Site Preparation
- Begin Log Delivery & Cutting
- Install Culvert
September 19-23
- Have Well Installed
- Begin Bathroom Structure
- Continue Log Delivery & Cutting
September 25-30
- Have Septic Installed
- Continue Bathroom Structure
- Continue Log Delivery & Cutting
- Order Bathroom Fixtures
October 3-7
- Begin Foundation Work
- Lay Plumbing for Altar Sink
- Lay Plumbing for Bathroom Structure
- Continue Log Delivery & Cutting
- Have Intercounty Electric Coop Engineer Stake Trench
October 10-14
- Pour Concrete Pad & 2x2 Stem Walls
- Dig Trench for Powerlines
- Have Intercounty Electric Coop Install Powerlines
- Continue Log Delivery & Cutting
October 17-28
- Timber Frame Delivered & Erected
- Roof Installed
- Buy Concrete Mixer
- Block Out Plumbing, Electric, and Windows & Doors
- Frame In Doors
- Order Sheetrock & 2x4's for Temporary Wall
November 1-30
- Take Delivery of Windows & Doors
- Dump Piles for Mortar Mix
- Finish Log Delivery & Cutting
- Stack Cordwood by Section (14 Total)
- Hold Gatherings for Building Cordwood Sections
- Install Doors & Windows to Get Dried-In
December 1-23
- Lay Floor Tile
- Build Temporary Wall
- Build Benches