By: Deborah Johnson Wood
It's been a long haul, but after 20 months of construction and renovation, Christ Memorial Church, Reformed Church of America, will never be the same. A $15 million, 60,000-square-foot expansion doubled the size of the facility and will enable the church to increase its ministries. In addition to adding the square footage, the church renovated another 60,000-square-feet of existing office and children's ministry space.
"The expansion was to improve our ability to engage in ministry with our congregation," said Administrator Paul Scholten. "We've had a number of opportunities already to help other churches and schools in the community by hosting conferences, school concerts, and special events."
The expansion houses a community gathering space and conference center that will seat 400; the more intimate Fireside Café that seats about 40; an adult education wing for small group studies; and a 12,000-square-foot youth ministries wing with state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and technology, and a stage for concerts.
Because the main sanctuary seats 1,500 people, the church needed a chapel for more intimate worship services, small weddings, and funerals. The new chapel seats 300 and serves as the location for a multi-cultural worship service called All God's People.
"We put in a fiber optic backbone and control center for audio/visual communication," Scholten said. "We're able to video a service in the sanctuary and display it in the chapel, the youth room, or the gathering place.
"It's a remarkable building," Scholten added. "We're expecting that God will continue to bless the ministry he's focused us on."
Source: Paul Scholten, Christ Memorial Church
www.christmemorial.org
Photograph courtesy of Christ Memorial Church
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth. She can be reached at [email protected].
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