Building Update
Fire Recovery Video
November 10, 2009
If you missed the video shown on Sunday morning, check it out here! This video documents the journey we've been on for the last two years.
Malibu Presbyterian Returns Home Refined
November 3, 2009
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First services to be held Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 9:30am and 11:11am.
A church is not a building. And members of Malibu Presbyterian understand that idea perhaps better than most. After losing their building to the 2007 Malibu wildfires, the church found a growing identity in their relationships and in embracing the community and outreach as a way of being a church without a home.
This Sunday, Malibu Presbyterian returns home, but not without a greater sense of direction and focus, something the adversity of loss and hardship brought from out of smoldering ashes. "The fire has resulted in a miracle!" member Michael Guillen recently shared. "It is a truism of human history that out of great hardship comes greatness - witness the adversity that led to the founding of our country. The exile that Malibu Pres has endured for the past two years has brought our congregation closer to God, to one another, and to our community. Our homecoming might be the end of our exile, but it is only the beginning of our renewed sense of mission."
Rather than focusing on its loss, the church immediately focused on others. Three weeks after losing their own building, members built homes in Baja, Mexico for impoverished families. Two months after the fire, members of Malibu Pres came alongside devastated home-owners in the second 2007 fire in Latigo and Corral Canyons, praying with them as they measured the extent of their own loss to fire.
The church not only embraced the community, but the community embraced the church.
For the last two years, Malibu Presbyterian became more integrated into the community. They held weekly services at Webster Elementary, Dads danced with their daughters at the annual Father-Daughter Valentine Dance at the Malibu Inn and Bible studies met in private homes. The Malibu Pres Preschool was graciously offered a home at the Malibu Jewish Center for eight months until a temporary preschool could be built. Cindy Ludwig, Director of the Preschool reflects, "We had no place and needed classrooms for 85 wonderful children, and we were welcomed in as part of the family. What a beautiful picture of a community that cares for another."
While the church prepares to return to the easily identifiable white tent on the hill, the church will celebrate 60 years of service and life with new-found insight into what it means to be a people of God.
As anyone who has been touched by adversity knows, the church is not the same as it was two years ago.
They are a refined-by-fire community. "We all experience pain, hardship and loss in this life," says Senior Pastor Greg Hughes. "...but in every trial there is an opportunity, a blessing to seize. Just as fire refines gold and strengthens metal, so too has our church family been enriched by the loss of our buildings. Athletes are heard to say, 'No pain, no gain.' I'd like to say it a little differently for Malibu Pres, 'Burned down, but fired up!' We could have fractured under the strain and stress of our loss, but it brought our congregation together with greater purpose and resolve. Our love for one another has increased and our commitment has grown to leave a lasting legacy, as the Christmas carol goes, of 'peace on earth and goodwill towards men.' We are a resurrection people, like Christ, we can't stay down."
"Now that we are 'going home,' the real challenge begins," member Michael Guillen warned. "We must not become comfortable and grow apathetic; not allow materialism to pass for meaning; but instead, we must always remember that the focus of the Gospel is on people, not on bricks and mortar."
Pastor Greg concludes, "We have a new base camp. And we pray it will not only glorify God but will continue to serve our families and our wonderful community. It's only a means to an end. We are a blessed people. We are a thankful people. And we couldn't be more excited."
In Honor of Our Move Back Home...
November 2, 2009
We are reposting the REFINED video produced by Tim Jones to honor the 2 year mark of the fire, and to celebrate the progress we have made & our upcoming return back to our original location.
Malibu Pres Refined. from MPC on Vimeo.
February Update
February 18, 2009
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From the Building Resurrection Committee (BRC)
"These are the glory days." Earlier this month, Pastor Greg Hughes spoke those words and gave us a new perspective on challenging times in our lives. Isn't it during times of struggle that we often discover how strong we are, how good God is, and how sufficient His grace is to sustain us?
In that light, we can look upon these days as the glory days of Malibu Presbyterian Church. True, our plans for the temporary church and the new church have not gone according to schedule, but perhaps it's because God is refining those plans. The church staff, Building Resurrection Committee, Building & Grounds Committee, Burdge & Associates, Klein Construction, Dave Stowell, Chris Laubach, Dominy & Associates, Daly America, and many others have been hard at work to make the most out of this incredible opportunity to construct a new church building.
Here are a few developments over the last few months:
We submitted a Pre-Application using the chosen design concept from Dominy & Associates, and the City of Malibu responded with a list of significant issues regarding the design, including the following:
- The City of Malibu did not allow our proposed parking structure to be counted as a basement. This means that the proposed building and parking structure exceeded the City height limit of two stories for our church; instead, they viewed the design as having four levels.
- The City wanted Malibu Presbyterian Church to conduct a traffic study, which would have cost a lot of time and money.
- The City challenged our proposed setbacks (space between buildings and the road), which may have required design changes.
Due to the pushback from the City of Malibu, the increasingly challenging environment for fundraising, and the length of time required for construction, the BRC recommends that we no longer pursue the original Dominy & Associates design. Instead, we have requested that Dominy & Associates work on developing a like-for-like design. This means that we can build a new church with a new design, but it can only be up to 10% larger than the footprint of the original church building. We can address many of the functional problems that were inherent in the old design, but this means that we must reduce our proposed enhanced programming to fit within these new size constraints.
Our next steps:
- Review the program and new conceptual design for a like-for-like structure.
- Obtain cost estimates.
- Prepare a new Pre-Application for submission to the City of Malibu.
Please feel free to speak with any of the BRC committee members if you have any questions regarding the latest updates. While we have encountered many obstacles that have caused us to adjust our plans, we ask you to join us in prayer as we seek to discern God's will. Please pray for wisdom for all those who are working on behalf of Malibu Presbyterian Church to move forward with the temporary church and the new church design. Let's also take time to remember God's goodness, faithfulness, and provision during these glory days of our church.
"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain." Psalm 127:1
Foundation is Layed
January 24, 2009
Construction of the temporary structure formally began this week, as the foundation was layed for the new retaining wall.
The Day After
October 22, 2008
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One year after the fire that destroyed our church building, we are republishing the first blog entry that was posted the day after the fire. We continue to be thankful for all of the comments and support that poured in that day.
Republished From October 22, 2007
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Republished From October 22, 2007
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Results of the Dominy Survey
July 31, 2008
A huge thank you to those of you who came to the "meet the architect" evening and participated in our Church design workshop. We had a great representation of our Church, with over 100 people in attendance which is almost one third of our members!
The results were very informative and gave us insight as to the direction we need to take in order to arrive at our final Church design. As always, BRC committee members are available to talk to before or after Sunday services. In addition, please send us your thoughts through the church website at www.malibupres.org, click on "BRC Update," scroll to the bottom and type your questions or comments. Or you may e-mail the committee directly at building@malibupres.org.
Download the results (.pdf)
The results were very informative and gave us insight as to the direction we need to take in order to arrive at our final Church design. As always, BRC committee members are available to talk to before or after Sunday services. In addition, please send us your thoughts through the church website at www.malibupres.org, click on "BRC Update," scroll to the bottom and type your questions or comments. Or you may e-mail the committee directly at building@malibupres.org.
Download the results (.pdf)
BRC Update
May 20, 2008
Since our last update, the Building Resurrection Committee (BRC) has been actively working to finalize our architect selection process and continue to develop the information necessary for the early stages of designing our new church campus. It has been a month of contract negotiations, site visits to other churches and information gathering with members of the Malibu Presbyterian Church community.
Our New Architect - Dominy + Associates
Based on the BRC's recommendations, the Session of Malibu Presbyterian Church unanimously selected and approved using Dominy & Associates (www.domusstudio.com) as the lead design architect for our project. Dominy & Associates is a well respected firm based in San Diego, one that enjoys an outstanding reputation for church design. The firm was chosen based upon multiple factors, including experience in designing church projects similar in size to ours, historical ability to meet project budgets and schedules, efficiency in the costs of their design concepts and their ability to understand the unique way in which Malibu Pres uses the facility for its various worship and ministry activities.
After receiving Session approval, the BRC negotiated a design agreement with the firm and is now prepared to start the design process. Our first meeting with the Dominy &Associates design team took place during the middle of the month of April. We introduced the principals of Dominy to the congregation.
In addition to hiring an architect, the BRC has also been at work engaging the services of independent firms to perform soils/geotechnical studies as well as on-site wastewater treatment options. This information will be necessary when we eventually apply for building approval from the City of Malibu.
Collecting Information - Building Consensus
The other important step we are taking is to gather the necessary information to create a design that will best serve the interests of our church, moving forward. Since last fall, we have been soliciting and analyzing input from survey forms, programming questionnaires and interviews. This process continued again in April with a planning study conducted by Resource Services, Inc. which included two focus groups, online surveys and additional interviews. We want to thank everyone who participated in these activities and gave us your input.
While everyone has their own thoughts and ideas about what our next church should be, we hope this process will provide us with direction in developing a campus that will allow us to fulfill the vision and mission of MPC and, most importantly, bring glory to God Our Father.
Next Steps
In the coming months, the BRC will begin the challenging task of working with our architect and creating the design for our new church campus. We will be reconciling what we would desire in our church with the constraints imposed by our building budget, schedule considerations and regulations imposed by the City of Malibu. Tough, but necessary, decisions will be required to get all the pieces of this puzzle to fit together properly. While trade-offs are a natural part of this stage of design, the BRC will be working cooperatively with Session and MPC staff in seeking the optimal solutions for our future church home.
Our New Architect - Dominy + Associates
Based on the BRC's recommendations, the Session of Malibu Presbyterian Church unanimously selected and approved using Dominy & Associates (www.domusstudio.com) as the lead design architect for our project. Dominy & Associates is a well respected firm based in San Diego, one that enjoys an outstanding reputation for church design. The firm was chosen based upon multiple factors, including experience in designing church projects similar in size to ours, historical ability to meet project budgets and schedules, efficiency in the costs of their design concepts and their ability to understand the unique way in which Malibu Pres uses the facility for its various worship and ministry activities. After receiving Session approval, the BRC negotiated a design agreement with the firm and is now prepared to start the design process. Our first meeting with the Dominy &Associates design team took place during the middle of the month of April. We introduced the principals of Dominy to the congregation.
In addition to hiring an architect, the BRC has also been at work engaging the services of independent firms to perform soils/geotechnical studies as well as on-site wastewater treatment options. This information will be necessary when we eventually apply for building approval from the City of Malibu.
Collecting Information - Building Consensus
The other important step we are taking is to gather the necessary information to create a design that will best serve the interests of our church, moving forward. Since last fall, we have been soliciting and analyzing input from survey forms, programming questionnaires and interviews. This process continued again in April with a planning study conducted by Resource Services, Inc. which included two focus groups, online surveys and additional interviews. We want to thank everyone who participated in these activities and gave us your input.
While everyone has their own thoughts and ideas about what our next church should be, we hope this process will provide us with direction in developing a campus that will allow us to fulfill the vision and mission of MPC and, most importantly, bring glory to God Our Father.
Next Steps
In the coming months, the BRC will begin the challenging task of working with our architect and creating the design for our new church campus. We will be reconciling what we would desire in our church with the constraints imposed by our building budget, schedule considerations and regulations imposed by the City of Malibu. Tough, but necessary, decisions will be required to get all the pieces of this puzzle to fit together properly. While trade-offs are a natural part of this stage of design, the BRC will be working cooperatively with Session and MPC staff in seeking the optimal solutions for our future church home.
Demolition Begins
May 5, 2008
Bulldozers begin demolition of the remains of MPC's structure. Click the numbers below to see more.
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Demolition began this morning on the foundation of MPC's site.
Building Resurrection Update
March 14, 2008
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As we transition from recovery to a rebuilding phase, we will devote this page more specifically towards the efforts of the Building Resurrection Committee.
We are on an amazing journey of rebuilding our Church and we want to bring you all along with us. We will posting updates of our progress here, so please check in frequently! Additionally, we will have our own e-mail address for you to communicate with us. We welcome your questions, your thoughts, and your prayers. We also welcome you to talk to us at anytime, we are all so passionate about this and want you to be informed so that you may share our enthusiasm.
For any questions, contact building@malibupres.org
Our New Offices
January 30, 2008
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It has been 3 months since the fire, and we are settling into our new workspace. Our offices are located in two new modular buildings located on a portion of our parking lots.Remarkably, these structures were constructed one month after the fire. We moved into them the first week of December with most rudimentary systems in place. The mobilization of efforts to get these structures up has been amazing.
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Christmas Eve Service at MPC on Fox
January 4, 2008
Fox 11 News covered our Christmas Eve Service. Click the image below to see the piece on their site.
One Sunday Morning
December 18, 2007
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Tim Jones woke early on the morning of October 21st to see an orange glow rising over the Malibu skyline. Realizing that a fire had broken out, he called the Malibu Presbyterian Church staff and got in the car. He recounts his memory of that morning.Making It Beautiful
December 18, 2007
It’s funny to reflect on Charles Hummel’s classic 1967 essay “Tyranny of the Urgent,” where he identified the telephone as among the worst offenders against our peace and well-being. And that was even before we started to carry the offending instrument with us everywhere, embellishing it with email, computers, cameras, downloadable ring tones, TV, movie and music files. More
MPC Building Survey
December 1, 2007
As we begin the first steps of recovery after the fire, our hearts naturally turn to the future. What will we rebuild? Our Building Resurrection Committee has wrestled with these questions in the recent weeks.We want to keep in dialogue with you at every phase. We are asking members of the congregation to fill out a simple form, telling us what you liked about the old building, and what you would like to see in the new one.
MPC Responds To Corral Canyon Fire
November 26, 2007
Now that the Corral Fire is mostly contained, we are mobilizing efforts to reach out to the community. If you know of anyone who is displaced or has lost a home in the fire, please contact Tim Jones at tjones@malibupres.org. Or respond by commenting, below.Despite the loss of our own structure, we remain the body of Christ, and stand alongside all those who have suffered a loss this past month. We will let you know of ways to assist in the coming days.