RECYCLED TEENAGERS FIND INSPIRING WORK BUILDING CHURCHES

A LABOR OF LOVE: Foreman Les Dyer is a 10-year veteran of the Laborers For Christ organization. Dyer said these 10 years have been the best of his life.

HELPING THE HANOVER CHURCH: A local group of Laborers for Christ is in Cape Girardeau through August, helping the Hanover Lutheran Church congregation build an education and fellowship addition to its church on Perryville Road. Above, LFC member Byron Veath bevel cuts a board for a rafter connection. (Photos by Tom Neumeyer)

What do a retired accounting supervisor, mechanical engineer, Air Force major, production superintendent, teacher and operations foreman have in common? They endure bone-chilling winter cold and searing summer heat, wield hammers instead of pens, live in camping trailers, earn minimum wage, and are having the time of the their lives.

These men and more than 300 others are crossing the country helping small churches with their building projects. They are in Cape Girardeau through August helping the Hanover Lutheran Church congregation build an education and fellowship addition to its church on Perryville Road.

The local entourage is one spoke in the wheel of a group called Laborers for Christ (LFC), which, since 1980, has helped congregations in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod assemble buildings.

They are quick to point out that the group provides assistance to the local churches rather than performing all of the work themselves. "The church itself is the local contractor and we work for them," said Byron Veath, a crew member. "The members come out to work, usually six to 15. We help the congregation."

The LFC gears its work to smaller churches that need the assistance rather than to large ones. Foreman Les Dyer estimates a congregation can save at least 30 percent of its building costs by using the LFC and acting as its own general contractor. As a result, smaller churches can expand more easily.

Hanover, founded in 1846 by German immigrants, has about 440 members.

This is the first time Laborers For Christ has worked in Southeast Missouri.

LFC participants have discovered many things along the way about themselves and their cohorts.

"This has been the best 10 years of my life," said Dyer, 67, a 10-year veteran of the organization. He was relaxing with the others, munching on fruit and pastries, during a morning coffee break and devotional.

"When we were working in Alton, Ill., this winter, we were slipping around on the ice, laughing like a bunch of kids. Basically, we're a bunch of recycled teenagers."

His wife, Betty, said with a hearty laugh: "We're crazy. We can't explain it. But this is no sacrifice."

"This is a laid back lifestyle," said Wilbert Tiedt, 60, a retired maintenance carpenter at the Waterloo, Iowa, John Deere factory. "You don't worry about a lot of things."

Tiedt is distinguished as being one of the crew members with prior carpentry experience. Dyer, who worked a civil service job in communications with the Air Force in South Dakota, said his only prior construction experience before joining LFC was building an outhouse on the family farm in Nebraska.

"I was on blood pressure medicine when I retired," said Dyer. "I haven't taken any for five years and its down to 110 over 80 now. We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't love it."

Although the men take the work seriously, they enjoy an occasional laugh. One member, who was leaving for a two-week sabbatical, found his immediate progress impeded after the others jacked up the back wheels of his vehicle one night. Another became literally attached to the job when a co-worker nailed his pants cuff to the roof.

A visitor asked worker Jack Callicotte, a former accounting supervisor for Ford Motor Co., in Lexington, Ky., how they handle smashing a thumbnail instead of a roofing nail while working on a church. He replied, "Well, we don't say anything; but where we spit, the grass doesn't grow."

The crews maintain a sense of humor to overcome challenges of their work.

Dyer said his first job as a supervisor was in the winter. Workers at a Utah site had covered their trailers with sheathing, then layers of snow, converting them to igloos to keep out blizzard winds. After the work was completed, often in temperatures well below zero, a snowplow was called in to forge a way out for them.

Dyer also said the cold and ice that gilded the St. Louis area last winter caused major problems for the crew working on the Messiah Lutheran Church at Alton, Ill. But despite the adversities, the work provides a sense of achievement.

"We get a lot of satisfaction; no one is sorry they started," said Henry Bergman, 69, a retired teacher from Manistee, Mich. "Most of us are grandfathers. We can show our grandchildren what we helped build."

Some members are in their 80s. The youngest crew member here, Bob Handrock, is 59. Crew members in their 50s are referred to as youngsters.

"Once you've done one of these jobs, they can't get you off," Dyer said. He said he knows of only two people who have resigned from the group, and both were for medical reasons.

The ambiance around the workplace varies from most construction sites, partly from a spirit of comradery.

"It's different around here," said Rodney Maxton, 62, a retired production superintendent for Sun Oil Co., in Texas. "I am working with people who want to be here. Everybody is doing their best. We don't have to worry about people problems. Everybody does what needs to be done. And it's the first hard work I've done in 30 years."

Several of the LFC members work on projects seasonally and some year-round. Among the seasonal laborers are farmers, in between planting and harvesting, people who use their vacation time, and teachers off for the summer.

Callicotte is among many who have sold their homes and dedicated full-time efforts to the cause. He and his wife, Patricia, live in a 35-foot recreational vehicle that they drive to each work site. Dyer also sold his home, but with the pragmatic reasoning that "I just didn't want to spend one more winter in South Dakota."

The crew on the Hanover building are living at the work site in camper trailers and recreational vehicles. After supper they gather for a game of pitching washers, enjoy the Wednesday night band concert in Cape Girardeau, or hold an occasional party.

The 6,600-square-foot project is slated to be completed by the end of August or beginning of September. Footings were poured April 1. The plumbing, heating, electrical and masonry work is being done by local contractors.

The addition is attached to the church that was built in 1969. It replaced the 1887 Gothic-style brick church, which is now on the National Historic Register.

Members of the congregation who are helping out usually come by on Saturdays. The church pastor, the Rev. Jeff Sippy, who dons coveralls with the rest of them, said, "The LFC has become part of the congregation temporarily. They add something you cannot measure."

Building committee member Elroy Kinder said the LFC provides a profound economic benefit to Hanover Lutheran. "We are not sorry we went this route," he said. "It makes for better stewardship of the church's finances."

One example he cited is Dyer's suggestion for an alternative to a fire door that inspectors required. An alteration to the existing door saved the congregation $800.

LFC's role in aiding Hanover Lutheran may evolve into a mutually reciprocal relationship. Some members of the congregation are reportedly considering joining the ranks of LFC, raising blisters on their hands as they help raise churches for others.