BUFFALO TWP — About eight years after forming, Christ Community Fellowship will finally get its own church building.

A nearly 8,000-square-foot structure is being built on a 13-acre parcel off Singleton Road near Ekastown Road to accommodate the more than 100-member congregation.

The Rev. Jeff Youell already conducts Sunday services during summer months at a pavilion built at the site in 2002.

Youell said the origin of the church began with a handful of friends from the Natrona Heights area who attended various home Bible study sessions.

A member of the group began consulting with Youell, who was living in Michigan at the time, about how to start a church.

Youell's involvement increased as time passed.

The group began meeting in a living room in 1989. From there, they moved to a YMCA before settling into the former Highlands Mall.

Once the mall was closed, the congregation began meeting in the Highlands Community Center.

The church group decided to find a location along the Sarver-Freeport Route 28 corridor to keep the new site within driving distance of its members and be in a scenic spot.

Members live in Allegheny River Valley municipalities including New Kensington, Vandergrift and Kittanning.

Eventually, the township site was found. A lake sits on the adjacent property.

"It provides a nice vista," Youell said.

After buying the Singleton Road land in 2000, the church members paid off the multiyear mortgage in nine months with donations.

"There was very generous giving," Youell said.

The old farmhouse on the property was burned down by local fire departments that used it as a training ground.

Youell said the goal is to complete construction of the new multi-purpose building this fall, when the group must move back indoors.

"It's very exciting to finally be moving forward. It's been a long time coming," said Connie Panach, a member of the congregation who serves on the building committee.

Panach said production kicked off with a ground-breaking last week, with contractors completing projects that must be done before the concrete slab is poured.

The project, which will cost approximately $750,000, is being financed by a church building fund, donations and a loan.

The building is designed for multiple uses, so it will not be built to look like a traditional church with a steeple.

Christ Community Fellowship is associated with the Evangelical Free Church of America.

For the next few months, the congregation will meet 10:30 a.m. Sundays at the pavilion.

Youell said people considering attending should expect a laid back and casual service.

"There's no formal liturgy," he said.

Along with Bible discussion, there will be music in the form of guitar-playing and accompanying song.

"It's sort of bare bones," Youell said.

After the service is under way, children and teens are split up and sent to tents around 11:15 a.m. before the noon finish.

Youell plans to expand the number of services and introduce new programs once the church has its own building and the "nomadic fellowship" has a permanent place to call home.

Youell holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from West Virginia University, a bachelor's degree in theology from Appalachian Bible College in Beckley, W.Va., and a master's degree in ministry from Moody Bible Institute.

He was ordained in 1980, subsequently serving as senior pastor at Diamond Lake Baptist Church in Michigan.

He and his wife, Rita, a Highlands school teacher, live in Tarentum. They have three grown sons, David, 20, Christopher, 24, and Andy, 27, who are spread out across the world.

For more information, visit www.ccffriends.com.