Pleasant Valley Community Church (PVCC) in Owensboro, Kentucky, started in an old warehouse in 2006 with a small group of 20 believers who stepped out with enormous faith in the work they believed God was calling them to do. They hired Jamus Edwards to lead this new church.
As the people of Pleasant Valley worked night after night clearing out conveyor belts and making that 30,000-square-foot warehouse into a church, they prayed that one day God would fill it with hundreds of people. And He has.
God began to grow PVCC exponentially, as their people lived on mission to see their city changed by the gospel. For the first 8 years, the church grew by an average of 100 people per year, quickly filling the building to capacity.
“One fall, we had nearly 2,000 people on campus for our Trunk or Treat, and we had a lengthy discussion as a staff about how to get them to come back to our church,” said Jamus, who now serves as pastor for preaching and vision. “The final verdict was that we couldn’t invite them to church because we wouldn’t have room for them if they came.”
It was time to expand.
The church launched NEXT, a two-year, Spirit-led initiative to build a foundation that would launch them into their next 15 years of ministry. They focused all of their generosity (tithes and offerings) into one fund, which would provide the resources needed to “Build, Invest, and Multiply.”
Who would partner with them on this building project?
When Executive Pastor Jay Mills was on staff at a church in California, he worked with Rodney James, founder of Master’s Plan Church Design & Construction. When Jay relocated and joined the team at PVCC, with expansion plans in the works, the phone call to Rodney was automatic.
The challenges were additional sanctuary space and more kid’s ministry space. Also, there was the desire to relocate the offices, which are offsite to the campus.
Through the due diligence process, it was determined that additional square footage would be required to meet the church’s ministry needs.
Phase 1 was a new 10,300-square-foot sanctuary, 4,200 square feet of new gathering space, new restrooms and just over 1,000 square feet of meeting rooms. This phase also included a new children and preschool check-in space along with renovated preschool classrooms.
The new sanctuary nearly doubles the church’s capacity, allowing them to serve an additional 800-1,200 adults each Sunday.
“The project faced several challenges, but at every obstacle, the Lord provided a way through favor with the city, subcontractors, and utility companies,” said Rodney. “It was amazing to see God work!”
Phase 1 came in just under $500,000 under budget and 3 months ahead of schedule.
“This was favor of God and a great team of everyone working together in unity to see it through to the finish,” said Rodney.
Every project takes a great team. Master’s Plan draws on numerous relationships from across the country for every project creating the right team working together under the Lord’s leadership.
In this project, for example, Irwin Seating was the partner that provided the fixed theater seating in the risers for the sanctuary.
On January 19, the church celebrated the grand opening of their new 750-seat sanctuary, new gathering space and preschool renovation. They had 1,500 members in attendance that day.
Phase 2 is underway, with the repurpose of their old 5,800-square-foot sanctuary space into five children’s classrooms, a worship room, and resource center.
During the construction process, God opened the door for the church to acquire another building adjacent to their property, which will be repurposed into a student ministry center for their junior high and high school youth (Phase 3).
Rodney concluded, “Through the years and through this project, we have seen God work, God move, and God provide. In the end, it is Him Who should receive all the credit and all the Glory!”
Master’s Plan Church Design & Construction serves clients across the nation as a trusted partner to pastors and churches as they lead their congregation through every type of building project. They guide them through the entire building process with their proven process, so they end up with a facility that helps them live out their mission, and is on time, on budget, and on vision, www.mpchurchdesignbuild.com.
