By Sandii Peiffer
Upon arriving at Christ Community United Methodist Church, Selinsgrove, in 2012, Rev. Randall “Randy” Bennett, Jr., discovered the church did not have a vision statement. He set to work right away with a Visioning Team and soon they were committed to Connect (with God and Each Other through Worship and Fellowship); Commit (to Growing Deeper in Relationship with Jesus Christ through Discipleship and Service); and Create (Opportunities for Evangelism for Others to Know the Love of Jesus Christ) — in order to fulfill the mission of Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.
The momentum continued. A strategic plan, approved by the church in 2015, determined a need for building improvements in order to better equip them for mission. They began to align their missions and ministries with the new vision and with much prayer and discernment, they started to “Re-Imagine” the future, envisioning renovations and expansions.
“Our diversity as a congregation is that we are multi-generational. Partnering with each ministry and generational group over the course of a year to gather input and refine our vision was pivotal in the success of this project,” said Bennett.
“We met with as many groups and staff members we could find to understand how they currently use the church and what they felt would be needed to assist in executing the mission and the vision of the church,” said Stephen Apanel, a member of the visioning team and the building committee. The Building Committee condensed and shared the ideas with an architect.
Those conversations revealed the need to refresh and renovate existing spaces and optimize them for better use and more ministry possibilities. There was also a need for expansion due to growth in both church membership and the youth ministry. “We have added 150 new members to our congregation since 2012.” shared Bennett. “More than half of those have been by profession of faith, including adult baptisms, and the majority of transfers have not been United Methodists.”
A Capital Campaign was launched during Lent in 2019 with a “Legacy” sermon series about Sacrifice, Prayer, Gratitude, Faith and Celebration. The congregation created and followed a 40-day Lenten devotional on each week’s theme. The campaign goal was $750,000. Pledges-to-date exceed $870,000!
Building and renovation plans were presented at the October 2019 church conference and the Re-Imagine project was unanimously approved. A groundbreaking service was held Sunday, February 2, and construction began on February 3, 2020. “It’s been really exciting to see it all come together from the visioning, to ideas, to plans, to shovels hitting the ground,” said Apanel.
The Re-Imagine project has started with renovations to and expansion of the existing sanctuary. Worship services are currently being held in the multipurpose room and they hope to return to the sanctuary for Easter services. There will also be renovations and upgrades to the multi-purpose room. “This is not only a space for connection and commitment, but it creates numerous opportunities to connect our community with Jesus through our active banquet and senior ministries,” said Bennett.
A large addition will pave the way for the future of youth and children’s ministries and will provide security from violent intruders. “The proximity of the pre-school, children’s and youth ministries will help us build upon each by ‘feeding’ one into the next — which helps us achieve our vision of connecting,” said Bennett. Finally, a cover will be built over the main entrance of the church to allow some protection from inclement weather, and the narthex will be expanded to include an office suite, a new welcome center, and plenty of gathering space. They hope to complete the project by August 2020.
