New Song Community Church has arrived in Lincoln with plans to resurrect the old St. Joseph’s church on the corner of Sixth and D streets.

The congregation currently meets at 10:30 a.m. Sundays in the multipurpose room at Glen Edwards Middle School while restoration of the 82-year-old facility is under way.

“We’ll use a lot of volunteer labor,” said Jan Mason-Lais, the graphic design consultant for New Song. “It’s a heartfelt endeavor.”

“It’s our intention to be in here by Christmas Eve,” Pastor Lane Olson said. “If at all possible, we want to do carols, candles and communion on Christmas Eve.”

Church members frequently go door-to-door to ask what the community’s needs are so they can be addressed.

“We want to get in and meet the community’s needs,” Mason-Lais said.

Many of the congregation’s members have followed Olson from his previous work at Trinity Life Church in Sacramento, Mason-Lais said.

The services are Protestant and follow the Assembly of God.

Chief among New Song’s goals is to help children and youths in the area, Olson said. During the Fourth of July, free fake tattoos and face painting were offered in McBean Park and Olson said there were lines for the entire six hours they were there.

Other focuses for helping the community center around enhancing marriage relationships, emphasizing parenting skills and offering financial advice to families, he said.

“We feel very strongly that people need to have a personal dream,” Mason-Lais said. “We want to help people get beyond the day-to-day drag and dream. It gives them goals … If you reach for nothing, you’ll probably get it.”

A Lincoln resident, Olson said that while there are many church facilities and buildings in the town, it was nearly impossible to find one that is available, and since New Song is an entirely new church, that was one of the first priorities.

Driving by the empty building that formerly housed St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Olson noticed it was available, but wasn’t immediately sold on it. After visiting it with his parents, however, and seeing the interior, he was convinced it was the right place to lead his flock.

“It reminds me of an old theater or something,” he said of the mission-style building. The current plans are to restore it to its original configuration, complete with the stained glass windows, carved pews and tile roof. Some changes will be made to improve the acoustics and add modern technology, but the original feel will be preserved.

“It’ll be a contemporary kind of experience in a historic building,” Olson said, adding that they plan to bring in big screens for use with services.

Not just the church was obtained, but the annex next door as well. It will serve as administration offices for the church.

“The city has been really, really good in helping us,” Olson said. “Any time a new church opens, cooperation with the city is a must.”

Mason-Lais said she believes everyone will be captivated by Olson’s services.

“He’s one of those people whose preaching is real practical,” she said. “I know he’s hearing from God. He’s telling him how to improve their lives. That’s really important.”

Anyone is welcome to join the congregation by attending services at Glen Edwards Middle School at 204 L St. on Sundays. For more information, go online at www.newsonglincoln.com

Sidebar:

History of the Old St. Joseph’s Church building on 6th and D Streets

The old St. Joseph’s Church building on the corner of Sixth and D streets in Lincoln was originally built in 1926 under the direction of Father Patrick Donnelly, said archivist and historian Gerry Logan.

For a price of $12,000, contractor Harry Pettichord built the mission-style building designed by Dean and Dean architects of Sacramento, according to a News Messenger article from Jan. 1, 1926. Gladding, McBean made the roof tiles and fire partition tiles.

The church opened on Pentecost Sunday, 1926 and was dedicated by Bishop Patrick J. Keane of the Sacramento Diocese, according to St. Joseph’s Church records.

The rectory was not constructed until 1936 and the pastors serving there before that time lived in the Burgess Hotel and parishioners’ houses. The current rectory was built under the direction of Father Daniel Twomey and he was the first to occupy it.

The church was renovated in the fall of 1983 under the direction of Father John E. Boll. It was painted and carpeted and a new altar and podium were installed, along with a new reconciliation room, according to church records.