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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: New Roseville church to anchor village center
Series of 'miracles' kept project alive for a decade
And that's just the project's first phase, which includes sanctuary seating for 350, a nursery, hospitality area and temporary office space. "There's a great deal of excitement about it," said Haggenjos, who began serving the northern California congregation on March 15.
"We anticipate that we'll occupy the church the first week of November," added Haggenjos.
"This sanctuary is being built in an area that is being developed by the city of Roseville and so I have a real sense of God using us to plant a space that will draw people," said Haggenjos, who performed a baptism on Pentecost, during the congregation's first worship service at the construction site.
"There was no roof, just the shell of the building. It was a wonderful experience, a very windy day and felt most appropriate for the Pentecost readings about the strong winds," he said. "As the area develops it will draw people to a deeper relationship with God."
St. John's will be located in the heart of a 3,000-acre planned development in the rapidly growing West Park neighborhood of Roseville, a community of about 120,000 near Sacramento, said the Rev. John Schively, associate rector.
When completed West Park will resemble a village green, with single-family homes, senior apartments, five schools, parks, businesses and shops. St. John's is the only church presence and will be designed to function as a community center.
"Everything in the church is portable, including the altar rail so that we can design for any liturgy that may be appropriate at the time, but also so that the building can be used … for concerts, drama and civic speakers," said Schively, who has helped guide project development.
"We've retained the Gothic arts style in all of the columns and exterior and windows, to bring a sense of tradition," he added.
St. John's church and school are anticipating growth.
With a membership of 300 and an average Sunday attendance of 175, the new sanctuary is planned eventually to accommodate 550, Haggenjos said.
Already St. John's school, which includes a preschool and grades K-8, has more than doubled in size since church and school leased space near the construction site.
The school "went from 120 students to 260 at the end of the last school year," said preschool director Mary Circle. She calls the availability of the Barbara Chilton Middle School -- an as-yet unoccupied school a few miles from St. John's future location -- yet another in a series of miracles that kept the project alive.
A series of 'miracles'
When Circle joined St. John's Church in 1976, the church "was at the edge of town. There were potholes in front in the road. Next door there was nothing but fields and the parking lot was gravel. Since then, the community has grown."
Over the next few decades, the community expanded and the church "simply outgrew our location in downtown Roseville," she said. She invited a group of developers to visit the church. They agreed, and donated nearly 10 acres of land in West Park, then valued at about $7.2 million for the new construction.
In the decade since St. John's received the land, the congregation has overcome such challenges as calling a new rector, securing financing, and developing architectural plans, she said.
"There was a while when I thought I was never going to live to see it happen," recalled Circle, 60. "The whole development process is a very slow one."
Church financing consultant Bob Pirtle said he helped St. John's "reconcile their dreams to the realities of today" including scaling back the design and parceling the project into three phases to defray costs.
"The place to start is to determine what you can afford to build and to tell the architect how much you can afford to spend. This church designed the project to fit the land, not their budget because they did not have a budget yet. You have to determine as a church what is appropriate for you. Then you can commission an architect to start working on that."
He said banks and financial institutions are reluctant to lend money to churches because of the tenuous economy. "It's a real credit to St. John's that they did," he added. "What scares banks now is that churches will change pastors or they will not have the proper leadership in order to fulfill a project of this dimension."
The most important element is to look at "how the project is going to affect the ministry of the church," he added. "You want to make sure that the development becomes a natural part of the life of the church and does not stop ministry."
A second phase is expected to include educational and office complexes, choir and youth rooms, a parish hall, cafeteria and commercial kitchen. Building school facilities will be the project's third phase.
The church financed about 75 percent of the new project through the sale of their former building and land, and by securing a loan for about $1 million to complete the first phase, said senior warden Joyce Patterson.
"We're on the new frontier of Roseville," she said. "We saw this as a sign the Lord really wanted us to leave the old site and … so that's what we chose to do.
"We're building in the worst economic recession since the Great Depression ... but we jump over one hurdle after another. Things fall into place, we seem to be moving forward," she added.
Patterson said the Ogden, Utah-based architectural firm, Building God's Way, "regarded the church construction as a ministry which was very exciting and appealed to us so that we're more than building a building. Everyone who comes in contact with the process is part of the ministry.
"Two days a week we go to the construction site and serve coffee and breakfast breads or lunch. It's part of this great work we're doing together," she said. "They're sharing it and we value their contribution. We know the construction workers by name. We know who their families are and we ask for prayer requests and we pray for them by name."
Leo DeRosier, a parishioner who also serves as an onsite construction manager, said some of the construction crew attended the Pentecost service.
"The workers are so appreciative of the congregation's efforts to reach out to them, it's amazing," he said.
DeRosier said he has had the delightful chore of watching the new church take shape "as the new road was formed, and the building rising from the ground up. Parishioners are really excited. They drive by the construction site every day to see what new stuff is happening."
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