Kootenai Community Church to shear youth leader on May 11

KOOTENAI — The congregation at Kootenai Community Church has become accustomed to outgrowing the physical spaces that house its worship services.

First established in the early 1980s, the members originally met in the old, white church with its archetypal steeple next door to Kootenai Elementary School. Back then, about 30 people attended services. The congregation already was growing when current pastor Jim Osman joined them in 1996.

By 2000, with the little church bursting at the seams, the group moved across the street to the school cafeteria, where nearly 200 people now gather every Sunday.

Planning ahead, Osman and the church elders that same year made arrangements for future growth when they purchased six acres of property on Main Street in Kootenai. Two years later, they broke ground on a building project that has moved steadily, if slowly, toward completion.

“We’re at the point now where we’re doing drywall and working with the subcontractors,” Osman said as he stood in the large, unfinished sanctuary space.

The new church will include about 12,500 square feet on the main floor, with an additional 7,000 square feet available on the second level. The sanctuary, Osman pointed out, has been designed to accommodate at least twice the number of people now attending Kootenai Community Church.

“It’s big enough to house our entire church and to hold other events, as well,” he said, adding that the sanctuary will be able to hold “multiple church congregations.”

One of the main reasons the larger space is needed is the leadership role the community church has taken on in the area of youth ministry, the pastor explained. At one time, Bonner County had at least two churches offering the Awana program for youngsters. Today, Osman’s congregation offers the only local outlet for the program.

“We have between 80-100 kids who come every Friday night,” he said. “In Kootenai, a lot of our kids walk or bike to Awana, so it’s really a local ministry.”

“And every year, it keeps growing,” said Awana youth leader Ed Barba.

The church has mounted a handful of fundraising events and special offerings, according to member Bonnie Mauck, raising approximately $60,000 for the building fund to date. After spotting a promising event on the Internet, she approached Barba about the possibility of giving up his shoulder-length hair for the cause.

The idea was simple, she told him — people make pledges and, once the goal is reached, your head will be shaved bald in public.

“I asked Ed and, thankfully, he said yes,” said Mauck, who has researched the proper way to cut hair so that it might either be sold or used by groups such as Locks of Love. “But he thought it over for a week.”

“Actually, it was more than a week,” Barba corrected, “because I’ve always had long hair. But I thought, ‘Why not? It’s a good cause, so let’s give it a go.’ And even if I’m bald, my hair will grow back.”

When an anonymous donor stepped in and offered to match the total pledges up to $5,000, the monetary goal was set at that amount. So far, with pledges coming primarily its members, the church has raised nearly $2,000 toward the goal.

The event, which the group has dubbed its “Fund Razor,” culminates in a public shearing at 11 a.m. on Sat., May 11 at Jeff Jones Square. A sense of urgency now surrounds the venture, since the congregation doesn’t want to leave a cent of the matching donation on the table.

Raising another $10,000 won’t complete the building project, Osman said, but will provide a strong push in that direction. And with a growing need for space to hold its men’s and women’s, Sunday school and Awana programs, having the added space available has become a more pressing need as the congregation expands.

“I know we could fit 450 people in here,” Osman said as his eyes swept the sanctuary in progress. “The engineers say it will fit 600 or more — but with that many people in here, it would be true fellowship.”

Osman’s vision for the community church goes beyond the walls of the building. He imagines a soccer field on the eastern section of the six acres, with a baseball diamond located on the north side. Those projects, however, will have to wait until the big, metal building on Main Street has been transformed from a construction zone to a place of worship.

According to the pastor, the congregation could move in as early as this fall “if money was not an object.” Since that’s not the case, Kootenai Community Church continues its build-as-you-have-the-money pace with an eye toward a time when it will serve this small town through both its ministry and a combination of playing fields and youth programs.

“We’ve built a building that will outlive me and my children,” the pastor said. “And it will provide a community church for generations to come.”

Riding point, for now, is Ed Barba, who will lose his locks in front of an audience in less than two weeks. His son, Seth, listened intently as his father described how the largest pledge will come with the honor of “knocking off the ponytail” before the rest of his head gets shaved.

“Papa,” Seth responded, “we’re going to have to buy you a wig.”

For more information on the history of Kootenai Community Church and its building project, visit them on line at: www.kootenaichurch.org

To learn more about the Fund Razor event or to make a pledge, contact Bonnie Mauck at (208) 597-4282.