What was old at United Lutheran Church in Manteca is now looking new. It has also improved foot traffic from the parking lot to the inside of the church, and vice versa.

“When the original building was built, the main entrance was off Northgate (Drive) but the parking lot was on the west side of the building, so people either had to walk around or come in through the courtyard. There was no real access to the parking lot,” explained Pastor Ed Kok.

The main entrance – a single door – off Northgate Drive is still there, so the church now has three entrances. The third one is the breezeway between the social hall and the church building, the pastor said.

This improvement was not the reason for the construction project. The target was actually to make the restrooms handicap-accessible to keep up with the mandates of Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

“The building was built about 45 years ago, and the bathrooms were really in need of remodeling to allow handicap accessibility,” the pastor said.

Actually, they didn’t have to do that since the building was grandfathered in after the ADA was passed.

“We just thought it was time to do it, make it much more accessible,” Kok said of the remodeling.

But once the project’s design was started, they realized “we had to do other things with the other parts of the building,” he said.

“(The) recent construction opened up the narthex by eliminating the small kitchen area” which made way for the installation of the new double-door entrance, said church member Lisa Weaver.

In addition to upgrading the restrooms and the installation of the new double-door entrance to the church from the parking lot, new carpeting as well as new tiles and paint were all done at the same time.

“It was a major renovation,” the pastor said of the recently completed construction project. But what they expected to be a job that would take up to six months, it was done in two months flat.

“We had some great contractors,” Kok said about the work done by general contractor Rick Uecker of Manteca and his sub-contractors.

Among the first to enjoy the creature comforts delivered by the renovation are the participants of this summer’s Vacation Bible School. The group is a little over 100 children based on the sign-up tally, with more expected the remainder of the week since walk-ins will be accepted, according to the pastor.

“Last year, we had 137 kids. We got over 100 signed up now, but by allowing walk-ins we’ll come close to 125,” Kok noted.

The children will be meeting with their volunteer teachers from 6 to 8:30 each evening for activities that fall under the theme of “SonSurf.” There will be six areas of lessons and activities which will include Bible stories, crafts, and music.

United Lutheran, which is located right next to the Tidewater Bikepath on the north side of Northgate Drive, holds two services on Sunday – a traditional one at 8 o’clock in the morning, and a contemporary one starting at 10:30 a.m. In addition, the church has a Wednesday evening worship service starting at 6:30 p.m.

Between the two services on Sunday, the church offers Sunday School which is available during the school calendar year), a youth group offered year-round, confirmation classes given during the regular school year), and Bible studies.

The church offers several music programs as well – an adult and children’s choir, a handbell choir plus, a Praise Team.

United Lutheran also has a community outreach program, the Food Pantry, which is held every fourth Thursday of the month.

For more information about the United Lutheran Church, and about the Vacation Bible School going on this week, call the church office at 823-1971. Office hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.