A Church Expansion Success Story

More than a decade ago when John Snyder came to pastor Crossroads Community Church in Parker, the church numbered about 80 people.

These days, Crossroads is pulling in more than 2,000 people per week and running four services. About three years ago, it was clear that Crossroads needed to expand. They’d moved to three services on Sunday mornings with an auditorium that held 375, and each was packed. Plus, their lobby and kids space were cramped, too.

One acre of land and a small building just wasn’t going to cut it.

“We knew we needed to do more because we were going to get stuck—we were going to stagnate at the size we were at,” said Snyder, lead pastor.

Church leaders found a 20-acre parcel of land that looked good, but realized “we’re going to be paying for this property for a while before we can even begin construction on it,” said board president John Turnidge. “We didn’t have the time nor the expertise nor the contacts that we needed to really be able to go ahead with a project like this.”

At this point, facing a big financial challenge, it became clear that they needed expert advice. That’s when they contacted us.

We saw immediately that Crossroads might have better options than building from the ground up. There were several foreclosed buildings on the market that could be repurposed and that would save the church a lot of money.

So we advised them through finding and purchasing a 45,000-SF former automobile dealership on Twenty Mile Road in Parker that provided a 500-seat auditorium, larger lobby and more kids space. We brought reputable contractors to the table, walked them through how to run a capital campaign and helped them secure bond financing for the project.

Being able to do ministry right away was the church’s priority, and they accomplished that goal.

“We are in a facility today that we think we can do excellent ministry because of Development Advisors’ partnership with us in the whole process,” said Dave Palmer, executive pastor of ministries. “Their education and their experience saved us thousands of dollars and probably millions of dollars.”

Crossroads moved to its new location about two years ago and almost immediately grew to 1,500 attenders. The church’s numbers increased so quickly that its leaders didn’t know how to accommodate all of these new people!

So again we advised them through remodeling their auditorium, which seated 500 at the time, to the current layout which seats 800-900.

The renovation project completed last December, and the church has continued to grow. What a cool project for us—we really enjoyed working with these wonderful folks and vibrant church. We’re excited to see how God is working at Crossroads and grateful to have been a small part of the expansion process!

This blog was adapted from a testimonial video wherein Crossroads leaders talk about their expansion experience and working with us. For more information about Development Advisors’ services for growing churches, email Scott McLean at scott@developco.com.