The irony was not lost on the staff of Calvary Church when they bought the building directly across Evans Avenue.
The building was previously owned by Farm Bureau Insurance, a company dedicated to protecting people’s assets after bad things happen. Now, under Calvary’s wing, the building is the new Life Change Center, protecting people by helping them change their lives.
About five years ago, Calvary Church added its third service, welcoming their now nearly 1,600-people membership to attend service at 8:15, 9:45 or 11:15 a.m. every Sunday. That was when the lightbulb popped on and staff realized it was time to start thinking about expanding, Senior Director of Connections Victoria Evans said.
The opportunity to buy the 7,000-square foot building opened and the staff jumped on the chance to expand the church. The building has two floors and will be used to house most of the offices for the growing staff, who are currently sharing office space in the main building. The lower level will be used as a place to gather, meet, and hold classes and seminars. It will also be for pastoral counseling times, and be a safe space to welcome community members to the Church.
Groups and programs, like Celebrate Recovery and Financial Peace University, can reserve one of the meeting rooms, which could be a small, enclosed room or take over a large conference table.
The building will offer a coffee bar, tables, chairs, quiet space, and ability to use technology for teaching.
As of now, the Life Change Center is still undergoing changes of its own. Beautiful, locally made wooden cubicle walls have been placed inside the building for the staff, and more improvements are being made each day. The industrial-looking space will be the perfect place to learn, talk, listen, and make changes for all walking into the new center.
The center will have similar hours as the main building, excluding Sunday use.
“It is really just an extension of what we are already doing,” Evans said. “It will be great to expand the opportunity to work with local partnerships to impact the community.”
To impact the community; to make a difference and a change. These are the passions and goals of Calvary Church.
Evans said when the building became available, the phrase, “Life Change Center” just came to them and the ball started rolling from there.
The goal is to have the new center open by the end of summer, allowing the staff to move their work over for the construction of the main building to begin by October.
The renovations for the main building include expanding the front wall closer to Roosevelt Road, taking over the open green space. This wall is the back of the auditorium stage, and the plan is take all of the offices and workrooms that now sit on the side of the auditorium, and situate them in this new space behind the stage.
Executive Pastor Al Lackey holds the blueprints of the construction project and is managing the renovations being planned out for the building. With the offices behind the stage, the plan is to expand and add in more seating space to the auditorium, expanding the room to double the number of seats to 800.
In 2007, the Church underwent an expansion to build the student ministries center, including what is called The Well and the Gym. But, no matter the renovation or change, Pastor Lackey said it is always about the culture of the church.
“Our culture will not change, it will maintain a small church atmosphere in a large church.”
On a typical Sunday, the hallway between church services is stop and go traffic, as people leave and enter the side doors. By transitioning the offices to the new center, all that space will turn into a large lobby for a better traffic flow and a place to gather before or after service. The bigger space will allow for more tables and chairs, larger restrooms, a more prominent welcome desk, and easier access to the children’s wing.
On the other side of the building, the staff are hoping to renovate and add more classrooms to the student ministries and children area, and improve traffic flow there as well.
For the last several years, Calvary Church has seen a steady eight-percent growth every year. With the expansion, Lackey said the ability to return to just two services a day is possible, but that is not and will not be a goal.
“We see us at having three services for years. The staff enjoy it. It works and we are used to it.”
Construction will take about a year, and currently there is no cause for evacuating the building while it is going on, Lackey explained. The construction is complicated and will require many meetings, plans, compromise, and the patience of both staff and community members, yet Lackey and the staff are not worried.
“The concept we are using is the one God is showing us. The evidence is that he is helping us to grow,” Lackey explained. “The question to ask is, ‘Will we be ready for whatever he has for us in the future?’”
With a lot of prayer and talk, Lackey and the staff are figuring out how to be good stewards to understand what is good for the church.
“We don’t want to just be building buildings, we are changing hearts and that’s how we came to where we are now.”
Calvary Church conducted their first service in 1947 at the Memorial Opera House with the average Sunday attendance of 34 people. In 1997, Lionel Young took over as Senior Pastor, where the attendees averaged 335 people. Today, the average is around 1,600 members, coming to the church from all over Northwest Indiana, and beyond.
The staff are excited for the construction and changes coming, yet Lackey and Evans agreed, everyone will be happy when the year of dust, dirt, and building plans is over and Calvary Church can focus on brightening their light in the community.
Renovation plans and questions can be found on the website, or stop by to ask a Calvary staff member!