Mt. Laurel, NJ

At Beers + Hoffman, we are familiar with walking with our religious clients for many years as their projects develop. Fellowship Community Church in Mount Laurel is such an example. Having been made aware of our work with Faith Church in Allentown, they reached out to us to inquire about our interest in being interviewed for master planning for their church. Little did we know then that we would embark on a near decade-long process, one that would see their project evolve through different iterations and a pandemic yet would also result in great friendships.

At the start of the project, master planning programming was focused on additions and renovations to provide additional classroom and meeting room spaces as well as exploring means to expand their existing pre-engineered metal building sanctuary. In early 2020, Fellowship Community Church committed to a final design and our team of consultants began our efforts to provide the necessary construction documents for a nearly 22,000 SF addition that would have included 10 classrooms, a dedicated nursery wing with three classrooms, a 450-person event space with expanded event lobby, and entrance. Modifications to the sanctuary, in addition to finishes and new seating to replace original pews, included the repurposing of overflow seating rooms into an additional 190 theatre style raised platform seats. And then came COVID, and plans came to a halt as the church pivoted to virtual programing and worship.

Working Diligently on a Transformation

When the church emerged from the pandemic lockdown, it became apparent that their vision for their future ministry and mission had once again changed, however they recognized that they still needed to address modifications to their existing sanctuary and gathering space to welcome back those returning to in-person worship and meetings. The focus of our efforts turned to maximizing seating capacity within the sanctuary through pew replacement with fixed and flexible theatre style seating. This included expanding the seating area of the existing sloped floor seating area by reducing the footprint of the existing curved front raised concrete platform. Careful consideration for the placement of a new screen wall and expansion of side wing walls, while preserving their in-floor existing full emersion baptismal font, permitted the curved front of the platform with wrap around steps to be demolished and a flat front angular platform to be constructed. This effort permitted the expansion of level, flexible, and ADA seating at the front of the sanctuary. This and other modifications in the seating layout resulted in a sanctuary capacity of 766 seats, an increase of nearly 100 seats from their prior pew configuration. In addition to seating modifications, a new raised Audio Visual platform and sound booth was created to move the AV control into the worship space. Acoustical ceiling clouds were located over the revised platform and around the perimeter wall space. Improved house, theatrical, and accent lighting, and large format video screens completed the transformation of their previously dated worship space.

Creating an Inviting Space

With the focus on hospitality and welcoming, attention was also placed on the entrance and gathering space to create an inviting and transformable space to support their many ministries. A new full height large format tile focal wall was created to include a large LED screen and zero clearance gas fireplace. This wall acts to conceal a large prep area for their café service, as well as, providing pockets for heavy-weight curtains which, when pulled, create a sense of enclosure to the otherwise open space and permits circulation to occur without distraction to the large group gathering space. Flexible seating with casters allows for quick transformation of the space. Additionally, a motorized shade was added to their existing large skylight to permit the darkening of the space when AV presentations are made. Floor finishes were placed to define circulation from gathering and to provide ease of cleanup after events. Finally, their existing multi-user restrooms were given overall finish upgrades to complement the finish improvements throughout the renovation.

While their visions for future expansion and growth remain on their radar, the improvements that were ultimately made have breathed new life and energy into this vibrant congregation. We remain poised to revisit master planning concepts once again in support of their ministry and mission.