SOUTH OGDEN -- New construction at Washington Heights Church is just one more bit of evidence of the rate at which the congregation has grown.
Since Pastor Roy Gruber joined the church seven and a half years ago, the congregation has more than doubled in size.
"We now have three campuses in South Ogden campus, Bountiful and a downtown Hispanic church," said Sam Barber, church administrator.
"On Christmas Eve, we had about 2,600 in attendance on all three campuses. ... On other weeks we typically have about 1,900 or 2,000."
Two years ago, the church started a major capital campaign to raise money and in-kind donations for the expansion that is mainly centered on the youth and children of the church.
"In this community, the families are larger, and we want to be able to accommodate families with a lot of children," Barber said. "We have teamed up with a ministry on campus at Weber State University. We have become very focused on children and students."
The result is a major addition that began last fall and is expected to be finished in the spring.
But leaders emphasize that the changes are not about building an empire but about serving people better.
"It's about people, not construction," Gruber said in a recent church publication. "Buildings are just the tool that allows us to accomplish the purpose for which the church was created. God is seeking to transform hearts and lives, and buildings allow us to create the environment in which lives are changed."
The major change at the Baptist church is a whole new children's wing, which will be just under 4,000 square feet, called the KIDZ Crossing.
The wing will include security measures to protect children from strangers, as well as state-of-the-art multimedia capabilities that leaders believe will add effectiveness to church functions.
"One of the most exciting changes is that we will create a very safe environment for our children, and the new design gives our children protection while still allowing our parents access," said Tammy Higginson, the church's children's director, in the church publication.
With both large- and small-group spaces, organizers believe the changes will ensure that each Sunday's experiences with the children "can be like the deeply impacting summer program, Vacation Bible School," states the publication.
Although they won't receive a new building, the church also is giving the middle-school-aged and high-school-aged youth remodeled space, also designed around the message leaders want to send.
Their areas also will have large and small gathering spaces in a coffee-shop type of atmosphere.
"Teenagers will feel more welcome and more like it's a place they belong," said Chad Holladay, the church's youth pastor over children in sixth through eighth grades.
"Students are excited about the future and what's coming," he said. "There is a general consensus and feel with people that they are excited. We've been talking about the building for a year now. To actually see walls coming up is exciting."
Holladay said the extensive volunteer labor from the congregation and the loaning of equipment by supporters of the church have not only saved the project a lot of money but has given members ownership in the project.
Mark Hilles, a member of the church and owner of Mountain West Architects, the firm that designed the new building and additions, said the construction team at Kier Corporation has impressed him with their efforts to allow members and supporters to cut costs by helping out where they can.
"That's a compliment to Kier," Hilles said. "They've embraced these volunteers and helped coordinate it."
He said volunteers have done partition work, dry wall work, installation of storm drainage and other site work.
"It's been a major blessing," he said. "A local businessman allowed us to use his heavy machinery for grading at basically no cost. That saved a tremendous amount of money."
Hilles said the design of the KIDZ Crossing is intended to help children feel like they are a part of the congregation yet give them a fun feeling of their own space.
"The exterior of the KIDZ Crossing is sort of a playful connection to the existing building," Hilles said. "It ties in in a creative way."
He said diagonal lines create a fun, children's atmosphere people will be able to see and understand.
Hilles' company is a new business, started this year, with a major goal of designing worship spaces.
"It is rewarding. It's important for the community," Hilles said. "Churches are more than commercial projects that go up for commerce. Churches reach the heart and soul of children in the community."
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