JAMES CITY–The holiday season is a busy time for churches. This year, it’s even more so for King of Glory Lutheran Church and School on Longhill Road as its construction and renovation project enters the homestretch. Pete Aiello, the church’s director of operations, said February 1 is the projected completion date for all the work. However, dedication ceremonies started November 28.
The church dedicated the current worship space as the community center space on November 28 and dedicated the sanctuary on December 5. There will also be a dedication for the organization’s new organ on January 29 as well as dedication for the school once the project is complete.
The construction project began a little more than a year ago and will add 18,000 square feet to the facility. There will be a new sanctuary, new administrative office space for the church, and a new nursery. When all is done, King of Glory will have 60,000 square feet of space on 14 acres.
Aiello said there were three driving forces behind the project.
“Number one, we wanted to expand the pre-school,” he said. “Secondly, we wanted to use our current worship space for what it was designed for, which is a community center. Thirdly is to have one space where we can all worship.”
The church holds three services each Sunday, and its 9:30am service outgrew its sanctuary. That space is being turned into a multipurpose area, and eventually could be turned into four classrooms.
Aiello noted the benefits of the construction will reach far beyond the church and its members. The renovated space will have two large areas for community activities, and the size of the kitchen has doubled. Both of those are important because the church is a designated emergency shelter, and does a lot of community outreach.
“We’re very vibrant in the community, and a lot of other churches use our facility to cook,” Aiello said.
The pandemic has been difficult for many churches, and Aiello was thrilled King of Glory was able to take on such a project, calling it a courageous effort.
“Our church rallied behind it,” he said.
That’s reason to celebrate, four times over.