Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek, CA, (www.saintmatthew.org ) is about to build 12,000 sq. feet of new buildings. We have been challenged with the idea that the “mission field” of dozens of contractors and laborers will be coming on our campus for the next six to nine months. We simply asked the question, how can we engage these people with the Gospel?

We heard about an organization called “Building God’s Way,” who had a variety of services to provide for churches, but one of the most unique features was doing ministry with these folks who come to help us build our new facilities www.bgwservices.com)

We are kicking off a Ministry of Construction that will have various components:

1) There is a weekly mid-week Bible Study being taught by Pastor Jeff Thiemann, Saint Matthew’s Executive Pastor, on Nehemiah and “Building God’s Way.” Everyone who is involved in the Ministry of Construction is being encouraged to participate.

2) There are prayer teams who will meet and greet the contractors and laborers each Monday morning, soliciting any needs for which we can be praying, and actually offering prayers for them during a mid-morning coffee break if they would like. One of these teams is all Spanish-speaking to facilitate our ability to communicate with any Spanish-speaking workers.

3) We are intentionally inviting the children and families of those working to special events that are happening during the summer and fall that are outreach-type events like FX (shared Family Experience), as well as to our Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas services.

4) A team will prepare lunch for all the workers every Friday, and all of the prayer teams will be encouraged to come and have lunch with the workers for whom they have been praying, just to having caring conversations.

All of those involved with the Ministry of Construction will be organized as a “Cluster” based on a model we have observed at St. Thomas’ Parish in Sheffield, England. Their Mission focus will be the men and women who are helping us construct our buildings, but they will also share in additional fellowship times once a month for mutual encouragement and support. The leaders of the Ministry of Construction teams are also being “huddled” (intentional discipleship training groups) by Pastor Jeff.