Cedar Rapids Weather
Churches On The Move Up North Center Point Road
LINN COUNTY – Bob Westfall said he’s not too worried about losing members at the New Covenant Bible Church when the church moves five miles north in 2011.
“We draw from the county and not as much from the neighborhood,” said Westfall, senior pastor at New Covenant. “I don’t think it’s going to be as much of an issue as with other churches.” Westfall said up to 2,000 people come through the doors at New Covenant on a busy Sunday yet he said their space, at the former Eisenhower Elementary School building on 46th Street NE, is all maxed out. “When there’s a family of five and nowhere to sit, we say, ‘we have to do something,” said Westfall. New Covenant will have a new church neighbor next year on North Center Point Road near County Home Road. King of Kings Lutheran Church is already out of its recent location at 6621 C Avenue NE. Pastor Mark Halvorson said their new facility, on the east side of North Center Point and across from New Covenant’s new building, should be ready in January 2011. Until opening day, King of Kings is holding Sunday services at Seventh Day Adventist Church, at the corner of 42nd Street and Edgewood Road NE. “All of this will be residential,” said Halvorson on Wednesday afternoon as he stood amid the construction at the new King of Kings location. A couple of houses dot the horizon but, for the most part, corn stalks fill the acreage past the new building. Halvorson said the new facility for King of Kings will be 20,000 square feet on a 15-acre spread with a total cost of about $5 million. The need for more space, Halvorson said, was not just for a worship center but also for classrooms for the church’s small groups. Also being located with Interstate 380 nearby is not an issue for Westfall. He welcomes the traffic and the visibility. New Covenant’s project is expected to cost about $27 million on its 55-acre plot between North Center Point and I-380. “From 380 to (Highway) 13 to Collins (Road), that was the largest growing sector,” said Westfall of recent studies in Linn County to measure population growth. Leaders of both churches said making the decision to build on North Center Point road was ideal as, last year, the economics of such a move came together. “We were thinking of waiting another whole year,” said Westfall before the cost of building materials went down, interest rates fell and construction bids were competitive. Moving a church from a neighborhood to an outlying area is nothing new. In 1999, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church made a similar move, from its previous spot on 1st Avenue NE – where Four Oaks currently is – to 8300 C Avenue NE. Dr. David Hagstrom said they did lose some members with the five-mile move north. but that was a small percentage of the overall congregation. Yet, 11 years later, St. Mark’s also has the room to expand as construction fills the back of the building for a new phase. That’s the kind of growth Halvorson said King of Kings is ready for, just in case. He said the current construction is the first of three planned phases. Westfall said New Covenant’s new space, with a planned opening for August 2011, will leave room for growth. “The worship center will seat 1,100, for three services,” said Westfall. “We could have close to 3,000, which will take us a while to get there.” More Good Stuff |
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