By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A former garage is being transformed into a state-of-the-art worship and event center for a new generation of church goers in the Henning community.  ¶  Work continues on the new worship and event center at Cornerstone Church in Henning, which is the site of the former city storage and senior citizens center. The group has been worshiping at the facility for a number of years, but just purchased the building from the city in late 2022.   ¶  Since that time the group has been actively planning for its future, which includes an expansive remodeling project that will transform the former garage and cold storage part of the building into a new worship and event center.  ¶  “It’s going to be a new facility really from both a look and a feel,” said Pastor Wendell Wahlin.  ¶  As part of the project, the front of the building, which is currently the place where church members stream Sunday services, will be transformed into a fellowship area and place where meetings from local groups and clubs can take place. 

The back of building will become the new worship and event center where community events can be held in addition to Sunday church services. The church streams Eagle Brook church services each Sunday morning and the new worship center will feature a large projector that will play the service on nearly an entire wall of the facility. 

The expansive remodeling project has already received some sizable donations and gifts as the church has raised enough money to pay for half of the remodeling project. In order to keep moving forward with their goal of having the new worship and event center open in time for Easter, church leaders took out a loan from the bank that will be paid back over time and push the entire project over the finish line. 

“The Lord is providing, we have all of the bills paid. To finish in time and finish by March we had to go out and get a loan and work with the bank to pay it off,” said Wahlin. “We had a good fund drive a year ago and now we will let the bank help us grow.”

In addition to having a place for church members to visit and use, the Cornerstone church building is also being utilized by a number of groups like the senior citizens group for card games and the Tri-County Cruisers car club for an occasional meeting. The church has also hosted a number of community events like family movie nights throughout the past several years.  

“We are here to serve so we are happy to have them here,” said Wahlin. “We just look at that as ‘hey we have a resource why keep it locked.’”

Wahlin said the church gets anywhere from 30-50 people every Sunday for worship. When the new worship and event center is completed, Wahlin said the church could host up to 175 people in the new part and even more people in what will be transformed into the entrance and fellowship area. 

“Our (goal) is to love God, our savior Jesus and love people. Short to the point and simple, that is it,” said Wahlin. “We are here for people who want to be accepted, loved and drawn to have another place to worship in.”

He said the goal of the church members are to have a place that can be utilized by the greater Henning area, whether they go to church at Cornerstone or not. 

For those interested in attending a Sunday worship can visit the church on Sundays at 501 Front St. in Henning. Services begin at 9 a.m.