It took more than a year to turn a place that once housed a skating rink and a teen nightclub into a place of worship but, at long last, it's done.
“We’ve been working on this building since spring 2006, making the architectural plans," said the Rev. Brett Fuller, pastor of Grace Covenant Church. "Construction began in January.”
A PERMANENT sanctuary is eventually planned for construction atop the now-defunct, Planet Splash and Play, water-park area. But for now, all the church functions will be inside the renovated, two-story, 28,500-square-foot building.
“We gutted everything — we took out the skating rink, arcades and upstairs party area and put in everything new,” said Fuller. “And we divided the skating rink into a sanctuary and the Sunday School area. The arcade area became our foyer, and the party area became our youth, meeting place.”
The land purchase and renovation work cost more than $8 million, and the church is still raising funds for future construction and to pay off its bank note. Meanwhile, workmen enclosed a deck above the patio area of the water park and turned it into offices, thereby adding 2,000 square feet. One room is Fuller’s office/conference room/sitting area. And the former go-cart area is now used for storage.
The site’s proximity to two hotels is also a plus. In November, Grace Covenant will hold a church-leadership conference for some 650 church pastors, staff and leaders, and out-of-state attendees will be able to stay at the hotels and walk to the church.
Of course, the centerpiece is the 600-seat sanctuary, where video screens will also broadcast the service as it’s happening to the upstairs offices and also to the women’s lounge downstairs where nursing mothers may sit with their children. And since the whole building’s wireless, members may use laptops anywhere.
“My sermons are PowerPoint so, ultimately, we’d like to load them on our Web site,” said Fuller. “That way, members could download them plus my sermon notes, and have them while I preach, rather than ask for them afterward.”
The sanctuary itself has comfortable chairs, instead of pews. And the wooden stage features a movable pulpit, with boards that pull out of the center to reveal a full-immersion area for baptisms under the stage.
THERE ARE ALSO “two cameras, two screens, great lighting, a top-rated sound system and hanging microphones for the congregation,” said Fuller. “The microphones enable people watching the service later, on CDs and DVDs to see how well the congregation responded to it. We intentionally built this so it didn’t look religious, in case people from the hotels want to hold a conference or event here. We also want the community to use our sanctuary.”
In the children’s area, parents will enter their child’s name into a computer, and color-coded nametags will be printed out for children and parents, with matching numbers for
security. The color will correspond to the child’s age and the room he or she will be in. The entrance to each children’s-ministry room has a painted circle corresponding to the colors on the nametags.
There’s also a multipurpose area where the church dance team will practice and where the adult-led, children’s church will meet. During the week, that room may also be divided into four, different classrooms containing video monitors for PowerPoint presentations for adults.
To reach Grace Covenant from Route 28 north, turn right onto Willard Road, right on Daly Drive and right on Brookfield Corporate Drive. The church is at the end of the street, on the right, at 4600 Brookfield Corporate Drive. Phone 703-318-7073 or see www.gracecov.org. Services are Sundays, 9 and 11 a.m.