Refinery church in Weyauwega makes progress
By James Card
Members of the Refinery church-planting team are not afraid of getting their hands dirty or rolling up their sleeves.
Some of them do not have sleeves as they peeled off their shirts while working the hot and humid weather.
They knocked down three walls in the old middle school to make a fellowship lounge area and they scraped out the old tile and hauled it off with buckets to a dumpster outside.
Their goal is to have their first service the second weekend in September. They have a lot of work ahead of them.
On Saturday, Aug. 27, the Refinery will host a family event. There will be a bounce house for the kids, bands and free food.
Air conditioning will be installed next weekend.
Also in the works are the creation of a family room for parents with young children, building a fireplace, utilizing the old kitchen area as a coffee shop, and making a fenced-in courtyard play area for kids. New windows will be installed in the front.
The front exterior will get a makeover but the rear and sides of the building will remain the same.
The W-F school district still utilizes the machine shop as part of the original sale agreement. Once they move out, the area will be turned into a youth center.
Worship space
The worship area will be in the gymnasium. It will be divided down the center-court line by a curtain.
The half facing the stage will be the worship area and is estimated to hold 250 people. Audio equipment is already set up on stage and lighting will be added.
The other half will remain open and the basketball hoops will remain. There are ideas of hosting basketball and volleyball nights.
Michael Hall, a member of the church-planting team, said that the style and attitude they would emulate would be similar to the Mill City Church in Neenah.
“We’re a cross between that – which is a very contemporary church and also Waupaca First [Assembly of God] which is very traditional. It’s kind of in the middle. We’re trying to pick up the Weyauwega vibe,” said Hall.
Behind the stage are the old music rooms and they will be converted into Sunday school rooms for early childhood and elementary school–aged children.
The Refinery has a different approach to Sunday school: instead of forcing a young child to sit through an entire church service without fidgeting or making noise, they skip the service and send the youth directly to Sunday school. Hall said this is a huge stress relief for moms.
“We’re not a ‘church’ church, we want to be more of a community center. This is the third church I’ve helped plant and we’ve always had that mindset. And it’s always worked out. Mill City is thriving and it’s a good church,” said Hall who also works for Foundations for Living.
Their campus pastor will be Richard Vanman, a long-time pastor in Clintonville. Hall expects around 30 to 50 people could make up the initial congregation in Weyauwega.
“When we planted Mill City, we started with 28 people. On opening Sunday we had 280. So you just don’t know. You work in the community. You try to build good relationships,” he said.