Hope Lutheran to grow
CRANBERRY TWP — With an active and growing congregation, the Hope Lutheran Church on Rowan Road is expanding.
The township supervisors Thursday had a public hearing on a proposed 6,600-foot expansion to the church. They can vote to approve the project next Thursday.
The church in 2013 acquired the property on its west side and plans to demolish the vacant house there.
The township will require the church to add a sidewalk and street lights to the front of that property, said Ron Henshaw, township director of planning and development.
Under the plans, the church also would move its driveway to the west to line up with a private road across the street that gives access to several businesses.
The proposal calls for two additions to the church that will be used for classrooms and other activities. It will add 14 classrooms and a fellowship area with a seating capacity of up to 368.
The church has about 300 families and 1,300 baptized members, said the Rev. Ron Brown, pastor.
In 2003, when he first came to the church, it had about 300 members. By growing as the Cranberry community has grown, it is now the fastest growing Lutheran church in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, which has 172 parishes, Brown said.
The church averages about 450 people at its weekend services and has about 220 children in its Sunday school program for grades 3 through 8, which needs more space.
“We’ve been sitting on floors and using every nook and cranny available,” he said.
The church also hopes to accommodate more community groups with its new space.
“We sponsor a lot of cub packs and scout troops and other groups. Our doors are open. Whatever God has in mind,” Brown said.
The construction is expected to start in July and will finish in 2017. In anticipation of the township’s approval, a groundbreaking ceremony was held May 22.
A dedication is planned for October 2017, which will celebrate the expansion, the 100-year anniversary of the church and the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
The church has a budget of about $2.2 million for the project, according to its website.
Church members have been raising money through a pledge drive, while $1.1 million will come via a loan from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Mission Investment Fund.
