New Beginnings Church (NBC) held its first worship service in New Ulm on Sept. 8, 2013. NBC was the second church founded by Pastor Lonny Carpenter and Angie Carpenter. The couple had previously pioneered a church in Lake Benton, Minnesota. After 14 years in Lake Benton, Pastor Lonny said he began to feel restless and felt a call to move to a new location. He described it as similar to God telling Abraham to move on in Chapter 12 of Genesis.

In 2013, the Carpenters came to New Ulm and had no way of knowing if the new endeavor would be a success, but 10 years later the church is still going.

“We came here with no money, no place to go, no people,” Lonny said. “And here we are today.”

In the early days, the greatest challenge facing the church was finding a place to hold services. For the first six years, the Carpenters searched for a permanent church location. Worship was held in several temporary locations. Their first worship service 10 years ago was held in a conference room at the New Ulm Best Western.

The New Beginnings Church on South 20th Street is celebrating 10 years in New Ulm this weekend.

Angie Carpenter said only a single service was held at the hotel. From there they moved to the New Ulm Event Center. Next, they moved to the former New Ulm Middle School.

NBC held services at the former school for a few years. The old school was eventually renovated into the Emerson Union Apartments and before the renovation started NBC had to move.

Lonny said he heard about space in the Marktplatz Mall. NBC operated out of the mall for around a year, before moving one last time. The former Dollar General building at 324 S. 20th Street became available and the Carpenters saw its potential as a church.

Angie said she had driven past the building all the time and she thought, it would make a great church building but thought the price would be out of their range. She said it was meant to be; they were able to acquire the church four years ago in 2019.

Many people were surprised the former Dollar General could be converted into a church. Lonny likes to tell people who ask that: “We took that store where they took things that sold for a dollar and lasted a day, and now we are giving away salvation that lasts forever.”

The New Beginnings Church of New Ulm is known for featuring music in its worship service. Pastor Lonny Carpenter promised that Sunday's 10 year anniversary service will feature even more music.

The building required extensive repairs to make it suitable for a church. NBC briefly moved back into the New Ulm Event Center after acquiring the building until repairs could be made.

Lonny and Angie said it required a lot of sheetrock to fix up the interior, much of which they did themselves

“It was a trial of faith…to be in different places and just to hold everything together,” Lonny said. “And it held together.”

The acquisition of a permanent building did not end all of NBC’s struggles. A year after getting a permanent building, the COVID pandemic hit, preventing many churches from holding indoor services.

NBC met this challenge by holding a drive-in worship service in their parking lot. The congregation members could be separated in their vehicles. NBC was the first church in the district to try a drive-in service. It kept the congregation together during a challenging time.

Lonny remembers one drive-in service experience in every type of weather Minnesota could offer. It snowed, hailed and rained during the service, only for the sun to come out in the end.

“It reminded me of the description,” Lonny said. “God says, ‘I’ll bring you through the fire, through the flood. You won’t be burned, you won’t be drowned you are going to be just fine.’ And we were.”

Today, NBC has a congregation of 80 members, which is a steady increase from the first service which had around 15 members.

“It takes time for people to know you are here,” Angie said. “But once people get to know you, word can spread by word of mouth.”

“That’s how we’re still growing today,” Lonny said.

Friday, Sept. 8th is the official 10th anniversary of NBC, but the church will celebrate the occasion on Sunday, Sept. 10 with a special service. The worship service begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Lonny said it will include a lot more music and a slideshow presentation of their decade-long history, followed by a fellowship cookout.

The sermon for Sunday is “The Courageous Church.”