For the past three months, the Trinity Lutheran Church congregation has worshiped in the school gymnasium.
They all pitched in to make the "cozy" arrangement work while their 53-year-old sanctuary received its first makeover, thanks to a generous gift left by a deceased lifelong member.
The school students each Friday afternoon would set out the folding chairs and distribute the hymn books. After the second morning service, the adults would have the chairs and hymns packed away in just a few minutes.
"Nobody was assigned to do it, it was just everybody pitching in," said Senior Pastor Russell Bowder.
That same spirit played out as the members stretched the gift, dedicated solely for the church building, by providing most of the labor.
Out of sight, the old boiler heating system was replaced with ground-source climate controls and asbestos was removed.
The walls were painted, new carpet and tile installed, and doors set back on their hinges.
One member volunteered to scrub down all of the pews. Another took home the Communion rail and refinished it.
The gift also included an electronic organ from Holland. The Johannes organ was specifically designed for Trinity's building and made to mimic the great European organs, Bowder said.
The pipes remain behind the refreshed walls, but the cost to refurbish the pipe organ was too much.
That gave the opportunity to locate the instrument's soundboard more acoustically appropriate in the rear of the sanctuary, as opposed to on the side, Bowder said.
"The instrument gathers us together as God's people to sing his praise," Bowder said.
He was quite pleased to hear the difference Sunday, when the congregation returned for their first service since the renovations, he said.
The students held chapel for the first time Wednesday morning.
And the sanctuary will be dedicated this weekend.
"By dedicating the space, it says, "This is holy ground,'" Bowder said. "This is where I come for the express purpose of being in the presence of God."
The congregants went back to their same pews, he said.
Although the colors and textures may have changed, the liturgical worship and musical strengths hasn't.
"They were very unified and worked together without someone prodding them," Bowder said of the construction phase. "They would look around to see what needs to be done."
That volunteerism is what keeps the church going. And he hopes that momentum continues.
The children who traced their hands and signed their names onto the concrete beneath the carpet may be the next generation to renovate the church.
They would continue a legacy which began with the downtown location in 1870. From the church archives, Bowder recovered the original crucifix to use in the gymnasium.
The students were so fond of it, they encouraged Bowder to place it in the renewed sanctuary - what he hoped to do, anyway.
"We've been 143 years in Jefferson City, in this building the longest," Bowder said. "I don't ever see us not being here."