The Pursuit and First Assembly of God teamed up this year in The Pursuit’s annual City Serve event to install siding to advance construction on an addition at Southside Church of the Nazarene.

The addition will give the Nazarene church not only more space for its activities but also will accommodate an immigration center, where individuals can receive assistance in processing citizenship papers, work visas and other immigration documents.

The Rev. Scott Mehlhoff, pastor at Southside Church of the Nazarene, said the City Serve project has been a blessing.

“It’s just amazing to watch the progress that’s being done,” he said Saturday. “They are basically doing weeks of work.”

Jill Schramm/MDN Wade Nelson with The Pursuit saws boards for a City Serve siding project at the Southside Church of the Nazarene in Minot Saturday.

Because the City Serve project also purchased materials, the project is much further along than the Nazarene congregation had thought it would be at this time, he said.

Wade Nelson, youth director at The Pursuit, said the focus of City Serve shifted to fewer, more impactful projects this year. The Nazarene church’s construction is a large project, but it exemplifies the spirit of Christian unity, said Nelson, who suggested it for City Serve.

“The Christian church in town always talks about unity. I said why don’t we just actually just do it. One of the things that keeps non-Christians from even coming and checking us out is so often Christians don’t work well together,” he said. “So I said I think this could be very impactful. We could bless another congregation. We could work together as the universal church, and we could show other churches that it does work and that we can show the non-Christians that this is how we’re supposed to function when we work together.”

City Serve volunteers were looking to finish most of the siding and decorative rock on the building Saturday. They also did basic electrical work in preparation for the electrician.

Mehlhoff said the church needed more space so when he heard the former Remax building at Fourth Avenue and Broadway would be taken down for the construction of a new building, he approached the developer, Chad Thompson, about buying and moving it. Never thinking it might be affordable, Mehlhoff was amazed when Thompson offered to give the building to the church.

Mehlhoff said the previously flooded Remax building was well cleaned and had the right dimensions. The church took possession in January 2020 but had no money to make the necessary improvements.

“I kept praying,” said Mehlhoff, who heard God telling him that outside help would be coming. The congregation raised enough money in 2020 to pour a foundation, move the building and finish the floor and roof. With a half finished project on the church’s hands, Mehlhoff decided to actively pursue God’s promise of outside help and asked Nelson, who had some experience with fundraising, for ideas.

The Pursuit and First Assembly responded with City Serve volunteers.

The addition will address the Nazarene church’s desire to have a fellowship hall separate from its sanctuary area. The building addition also will house a kitchen, restrooms, storage areas, a children’s area, a meditation alcove and church offices. It will have space for the immigration office.

The Nazarene church hosts a Spanish service, and it was through that connection with the Spanish-speaking community that the congregation became aware of the need for an immigration center.

Utilizing a Department of Justice program, the church is preparing to host a center staffed with a trained and certified volunteer to assist immigrants with paperwork. Mehlhoff explained that immigrants, including those from Canada, must travel long distances to accomplish the necessary paperwork to work in this country. They may need to travel to New York, Minneapolis or Omaha, Neb.

“They are all a long ways away and it costs thousands and thousands of dollars, and they have to get lawyers in those cities,” Mehlhoff said. “By having this immigration center here, it’s local. People can come to Minot.”

Because the work will largely be handled by volunteers, the cost is expected to be considerably less, Mehlhoff said. With certified personnel handling processing, the need for an attorney may be eliminated.

The Nazarene church has an individual who will begin training toward certification in July. Should the demand for services grow, the center would seek to certify additional volunteers.

Depending on how quickly the government approval process moves, the immigration center could open in late fall or early winter, Mehlhoff said. He said the church hopes to finish the building’s interior work by then through the efforts of church volunteers and contractors.