Covenant News

Shawnee Church Breaks Ground for New Building

LENEXA, KS (November 26, 2003) - Community Evangelical Covenant Church of Shawnee, Kansas, celebrated a groundbreaking service Sunday afternoon at a site four miles from its current facility.

David Benedict, associate superintendent of the Midwest Conference, was among those at the groundbreaking, along with local Covenant and non-Covenant church pastors. About 250 people came to the event, which included the release of 400 balloons that had a Bible verse and information about the church. The new facility will be located on 12.2 acres of land and the building will be about 48,300 square feet. It will include a sanctuary that would seat 500 but could ultimately be expanded to seat 1,000, said pastor Tom Anderson. Community Covenant, a congregation of 600, hopes to be using the new facility by August 2005.

Anderson said that 4.5 acres of the land was purchased with help from a gift from the estate of Miriel Tomlin. Along with a sanctuary, the new facility will include a kitchen, a themed youth room, and classroom space, with outdoor soccer and softball fields expected to be part of the overall scheme for the facility.

Community Covenant had raised $2.2 million in cash and pledges in a capital campaign and the church will have additional funds available hen it sells its current facility. The cost of the current project is estimated at $9 million. It is hoped that the church's new digs could be a powerful tool for community ministry. For more information about the church and its building project, call Anderson at 913-631-0215.

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