The Holy Flipper

When a house of worship falls into disrepair and its congregants dwindle, Pastor Paul and his family swoop in to redesign and renovate the building and resurrect an entire community.

In addition to being Senior Pastor of Crossroads Church in Lakeville, Minnesota, Pastor Paul Marzahn has found another calling. He renovates crumbling churches and gives the buildings and the people it serves new purpose. This Harley riding, karate black belt wearing Pastor has already developed more than 260 acres of mixed residential and commercial space. His background in construction, acting, and finance, make him a triple threat as a host and main character. He has an eye for properties that have value and has worked in the inner-city and out in the sticks. He secures financing, does the rehab, and shows the congregation how to use the new space for worship and community service. We will see Paul shoveling bat poop out of a belfry, negotiating with a bank and preaching.

But he can’t do it alone, flipping churches is a family affair. Paul’s wife and co-pastor, Deborah, is also a police chaplain and the CFO of their non profit Historic Wesley Center. She controls the budget and has many sleepless nights battling how to deliver what the building under renovation needs with how to pay for it on a non-profit budget. The strength of their marriage is highlighted when the budget battles get tough. Pastor Paul and Deborah also get push back from their daughter Rachel. She is passionate about design, and social justice. She educates the new tenants how to make the most of the space for the community. For example, she teaches them how to use the kitchen to serve the hungry or what spaces can be used to house the homeless. The moments of realization when the new congregants see they are not just getting a new building but a new way to serve others are inspiring and tear-jerking.
Son Joshua is our environmental warrior. He works for Interfaith Power & Light whose mission is the promotion of conservation, efficiency and renewable energy. He’s already installed low-flow toilets and proposed building a solar farm next to one of Pastor Paul’s ongoing projects to make the church self sustainable. Great idea, but budget-minder Mom (Deborah) wants to know… “Who’s paying for solar panels?!”

A ‘miracle moment’ usually pops up in all of Paul’s flips. Recently some copper wire and the water heater was stolen out of one of his properties causing a huge water leak. Paul called it a blessing in disguise as the city wouldn't issue a construction permit for the historic church. But because of the water damage the permit was issued and work began.
This faithful and hardworking family feud over the details of budget, historical value, design and energy efficiency but always come together with the mission of creating a beautiful, healthy, modern, usable space for any faith community.
Pastor Paul has worked with the Jewish Community and and has been asked to consult on a Mosque project. He’s getting calls to “please come flip my church” from all over the country after recent articles in local papers and radio appearances. His goal is not only to rehabilitate places of worship but also to strengthen home towns and help residents serve the community at large.

Episode storyline:
How Paul came to find the property.
Why it is in shambles which will include the backstory of the structure and community.
Historical value of the building.
Will Paul and his family take it on? Why and how (who’s paying for the rehab)?
Design plan.
Demo and budget drama.
“Miracle Moment”. Each episode will vary here during the renovation depending on the circumstance. Maybe congregants will offer to donate materials, or man power, maybe there will be protestors, maybe the congregants will differ on how to use the new space (bingo or charity boxing?).
Big reveal.
As a kicker in the last minute of programming we can look back on past projects and see how a former Pastor Paul flip is using the space or helping the community.

Prayer alone cannot rebuild buildings, it takes elbow grease, commitment, ingenuity, the occasional miracle and faith to restore communities. Pastor Paul and the Marzahn family are doing that.

Produced by Lake & Tree Films lakeandtreefilms.com
Music by bensound.com