The lead pastor of Desert Song Community Church, Brad Goeman, says he and his church are being tested. They currently don’t have a finished building of their own, which makes holding church services for the 150-plus congregation challenging.

But a new location is in the works. The church received permits last week for licensed construction work at the old Centwise building at 433 SW Fifth St. and hope to move in by this September.

“The whole process has been crazy, it’s been a faith-builder,” Goeman said. “I’m a pastor, not a builder.”

Come what may, Desert Song isn’t facing the challenge of moving alone. A neighboring church, City Center Church, opened up one of its buildings for Desert Song to operate in until the end of summer, free of charge. Goeman also said that a majority of supplies and labor have been donated, which makes him hopeful Desert Song can move into the new location debt free.

“Every time we have needed something, it has started off as, ‘How are we going to afford this?’ because as a church we have a limited budget,” Goeman said. “But the community and church members have stepped up.”

Late 2015, the landlord of Desert Song’s old location, at 640 SW Evergreen Ave., let Goeman know that an offer had been put in for that location by Redmond Proficiency Academy for a 15-year lease. Desert Song, which was on a year-to-year lease, wasn’t able to match the offer, so Goeman told the landlord to accept RPA’s offer.

The search for a location began. Goeman had little hope of finding a location that would be as central in Redmond as the old one, but, when the Centwise building became available, he knew that it was the spot. Initially, the real estate agents handling the property told Goeman there was a 99 percent chance that Desert Song wasn’t going to get the property. But with a little patience and faith, as Goeman says, the 1 percent chance that Desert Song would get the property was enough.

“My heart started racing the first time I walked through the building,” Goeman said. “And that 99 percent turned into our 99 percent.”

The Desert Song congregation, community members, and a traveling volunteer organization, Mobile Kingdom Builders, have worked at the future location since April doing demolition and framing. Permitting took longer than expected, which is why the church doesn’t have a location currently — the last day on their lease at 640 SW Evergreen was June 30. But permits have been acquired and work can move forward, bringing Desert Song closer to having a home.

“This has been my world for the last six months, so I can’t wait to be done with this project and get focused back on our ministry and our city,” Goeman said.

Even though this has been a test of faith for Goeman and the Desert Song congregation, things have come together. Paint for the interior was supplied at a reduced rate from a community member. Carpeting for the sanctuary is being donated by the building owners. Deschutes County donated old cubicle paneling for office spaces — in surplus. The unused cubicle panels will be used as acoustical paneling in the sanctuary, something that Goeman estimated would have cost $100,000 if contracted out. And the seating and chairs from the old location will be enough for the new sanctuary. Even though all of these supplies are from different sources, and donated at different times, they are all a matching gray color scheme. This gives Goeman something of a boost of faith.

“I don’t think I have asked anyone to donate any of those things, so seeing it come together has been amazing,” Goeman said.

The finished building will be about 20,000 square feet, which doubles the space Desert Song came from. Faith Harvest Food Bank will have a space of its own in the new location and continue operations out of Desert Song. It will have three classrooms, a preparatory kitchen, new bathrooms, welcome area, sanctuary, and quiet seating area outside of the sanctuary with viewing screens. The interior will have a high desert feel, according to Goeman, with a used pallet wood wall already installed.

Goeman said he is ready to be in the location. He said he looks forward to refocusing his efforts on his church’s mission, to be a support for the heart of the Redmond community, instead of construction. The Desert Song congregation does quarterly “Do Good Sundays,” where instead of meeting for church Sunday morning, they go and volunteer in the community. The most recent was maintenance work at Bowlby fields in preparation for the state Little League baseball and softball tournaments that happened a few week ago.

“It’s really easy for me to get overwhelmed by this process, but every time I have become overwhelmed God has made it into a faith-building thing for me,” Goeman said. “This whole process has been faith building for me, it’s about trusting God.”

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com