At Omaha FaithWestwood, 5Ms Make Magic In Church Renovation

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Local Church

OMAHA – A group of a dozen-plus retired men, looking for something productive to do with their spare time.

A United Methodist Church that, after the loss of its daycare, had a sudden vacancy of space it didn’t want to leave abandoned.

Combining those two forces, and within the space of 10 months, FaithWestwood UMC has renovated a 16,000-square foot area dubbed the Micah Center that gives modifications to the church and gives an additional home for Mosaic, an Omaha-based service agency that provides day services, employment and group settings for those with intellectual disabilities.

“The really exciting piece of all this is seeing the church come together and recognizing the opportunities, the possibilities,” said Rev. Cindi Stewart, who began as FaithWestwood’s senior pastor two years ago.

“That space would have been empty, with no purpose and no plan. But this church didn’t let it. They saw the vision, and they saw the opportunities,” she added. “It is aspirational for churches to say, ‘We’re not done yet. God’s not done yet.’”

The manual labor and construction know-how was provided by the 5Ms — Monday Morning Methodist Maintenance Men — a group of retirees who had formed just before the daycare closed last October.

The original intent of the group was to take care of projects around the church, said Dan Boten, a 5M member and the church business administration director.

“It was just a thought that Pastor Cindi and Dan had about setting up some guys to give them some fellowship and help out the church and get some repairs done, for ministry and for goodwill,” said Mark Tiedt, who schedules the volunteers in a group that’s grown far beyond Monday mornings.

“Once we got together and learned each other’s talents, it kind of blossomed from there,” Boten added. “Now we’re kind of a full-blown general contractor, pretty much.” 

Boten estimates that the 5Ms did work for which professionals would have charged the church $200,000.

Tiedt, who Boten calls the “key guy” of the group, had 40 years in managing school buildings before moving to Omaha to be near his granddaughter, Boten said. Dave Koopmans, another 5M leader, is also chair of the church’s board of trustees.

“We needed a couple of leaders, and Mark obviously has the knowledge, and Dave had just retired,” Boten said. “God has just blessed us along the way with people who are gifted in specific areas to allow all this to happen.”

The work ranges from rewiring the data system to support the Mosaic computers to recarpeting all of the area the new tenants would be used to renovate the church’s FaithWorks food pantry, knocking down two walls of 18-inch solid block concrete and rebar.

“We almost doubled the size of our pantry,” Boten said, making for more of a supermarket-style selection system rather than handing out brown paper sacks of groceries. More renovation included a supply room for the food pantry for overflow. FaithWorks is open three times a week, and also serves breakfasts and dinners, and distributes a half-ton worth of potatoes grown in the church garden.

Mosaic is scheduled to move in the third full week of July. A church member with connections to both organizations suggested the marriage of the nonprofits.

The clients of Mosaic have access to a covered drop-off point that also includes a ramp that can be heated during the winter.

Mosaic spokesperson Jessica Westerlin said 40-50 clients would be using the space, with 50-100 people using the space on a hotel office basis.

FaithWestwood also saw improvements to the lower floor of its building, with a new children’s library, a kids’ music room that is set to be completed within the next few months, and multi-purpose classrooms.

Work continued in each room. What had been half-carpet and half-tile for the day care rooms was changed to all-new carpet, partially paid for by Mosaic. The 20-year-old former carpet went to the church’s new rooms. What were changing tables were converted into cabinets. Teeny tiny toilets in the day care restrooms were changed out for adult-sized commodes.

Daycare furniture was sold on Facebook Marketplace thanks to the work of a church member.

Common areas such as the full-size gymnasium can be used by pantry customers, Mosaic clients and serves as the weekly meeting space for the 5Ms, who sit in a circle beneath the basketball hoop.

The group members, none of whom knew the others before starting there, provide an equal amount of care, support and good-old razzing of each other.

“It’s fellowship,” Jeff Sparrock said. “We get to know each other a little better and have fun. We can share ‘health issues,’” he said, complete with finger quotes. “We learn a lot from one other, ideas going back and forth.”

The group ranges from 63 years to “almost 82.”

“The No. 1 reason people miss is because they have doctor’s appointments,” Koopmans said.

Eldon Naven gave the devotion for the group, which was that day’s Upper Room entry and a continuation of the theme of prayer that’s been the basis for Stewart’s latest sermons.

“Prayer should be like you’re sitting and talking to your best friend, having a beer,” Naven said.

Afterward, Naven was teased by Sparrock, asking if he had “turned Catholic.”

A heavy moment came during a time of sharing, when Jim Terrell thanked the group for their support. July, he told them holding back tears, had marked a year since the death of his wife as well as their wedding anniversary.

“It’s been a rough year,” Terrell said after the gathering. “I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life, you know, when you lose someone. This group started shortly after, and I’m pretty new to the church.”

The retired printer lived in the west Omaha neighborhood but had never noticed FaithWestwood. On his first day of retirement, he went for a walk, looked up and saw the church building and saw it as a sign.

After his thanks, each of the 5Ms rose to give him a bear hug.

The rest of the 5Ms said their spouses support their endeavors.

5M members gather for fellowship, devotion and prayer in the church gym before their work.

“We’ve got a lot of wives happy that we’re out of the house,” one said.

Stewart said she was amazed at how much the 5Ms had accomplished in such a short time.

“I see the men who faithfully work, week after week. We have men who’ve learned new skills, we have men who have been able to live their retirement in a different way than they’ve expected,” she said. “The friendships that have been forged, the bonds. It’s just expanded, and it’s been there for our folks during some of the critical moments of their lives.

“None of us could have imagined what happened with 5Ms, that the concept would take off,” Stewart said of the group, whose members discussed helping widows and other families in the church with needed home renovations. “Originally they were going to do a couple of piddly projects around the church, and all of a sudden they have become this.”

The project — new Mosaic offices, expanded food pantry and classrooms — was called the Micah Center, suggested by a teenager inspired by Micah 6:8.

“The idea was to live into the space for it to be what we hoped it would be,” Stewart said. “It’ll be a space that inspires us all to act justly, seek mercy and walk humbly with God.”

During the dedication of the Micah Center on June 29, Stewart said, she asked Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, Eastern Nebraska District superintendent who assisted with the dedication, to pinch her because she didn’t believe the project had happened and so quickly.

Ahlschwede obliged, gently pinching her on the elbow.

Stewart said the idea can be adapted for any church that finds itself with unused space and able-bodied retirees ready to work.

“We are seeing so many stories of how, in God’s time, things happen,” she said. “In God’s timing, we were setting ourselves up for opportunities we didn’t even know yet.”

David Burke is a content specialist with the Great Plains Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.