Project Details:
- New expanded foyer entry space
- New generous lobby with
connecting spaces - New café space
- Renovation of gym into Next-Gen
venue worship space
- Renovation of sanctuary space
- New children’s ministry space
- Updated restrooms
Project Background:
Second Church in Danville, IL, is known for its hospitality. For more than 100 years, this church has been a cornerstone in the community, attracting people from all ages and stages of life within a 30-mile radius. In 1983, Second Church purchased a building on the outskirts of town. After a remodel in 2000, attendance doubled. Even after a fourth service on Sundays, the church was bursting at the seams, and there was little space for people to fellowship before or after services.
“People always felt they had to get in and get out,” says Drew Mentzer, senior pastor of Second Church. “If we went two minutes over on our services, we’d have a major traffic jam. Our foyer felt like a cattle shoot.” The church felt as though they needed new connecting space to eliminate people coming to the church for years and never knowing anyone.
“Second Church is known as a fun, relational, and welcoming church,” says Greg Snider, project developer for Aspen Group. “They love people into their congregation. But the more they grew, they didn’t have the space to do this as well. We knew adding lobby space to their building would be essential to their future growth.”
Project Results:
Since completing the construction of their new foyer, Mentzer says the dynamic has totally changed. People now stand around and talk and fellowship before and after services, something that never happened before the renovation.
Along with helping people connect by adding generous lobby space, Second Church also converted its old gym into a new venue for a Next Gen service so that young adults could feel a part of the congregation.
“We have a tremendous ministry for children and youth,” says Mentzer. “What happened though is these teenagers didn’t have anything after they graduated. We know the statistics of young people leaving the church. We wanted to address this need so we followed the research, and we visited churches that we felt were reaching Millennials well.”
The young adults are thrilled with their new worship space. Even with the addition of this service for young adults, the church can comfortably accommodate the influx of people between services because the new lobby and sanctuary provide ample space for more people.
Mentzer dreams about Second Church more fully accomplishing its mission to preach the Gospel and declare the salvation of Christ in the surrounding Danville region. “We renovated our church because our lack of space was negatively affecting our ability to grow,” says Mentzer. With an updated sanctuary, new Next Gen ministry space, and a lobby that provides much-needed connecting space, Second Church is well positioned to keep “loving people into the congregation” for years to come.
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