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King of Kings Lutheran Church in Lake Orion, Mich., was interested in community outreach, but was so cramped for space that they could barely meet their own needs. Established in 1964 in the lake region northeast of Detroit, the congregation built a new sanctuary in the 1980s to seat 275. Lake Orion evolved from a sleepy getaway into a bedroom community when DaimlerChrysler moved its U.S. headquarters and technology center to nearby Auburn Hills in the 1990s, and King of Kings added a second service about the same time.

As the congregation grew, space became scarce. The original sanctuary was partitioned into classrooms. The partitions visually separated the classes, but not the sound. The resulting cacophony distracted Sunday school students from learning. Other classes were held in the narthex among people filing in and out of the church building. A temporary trailer, used for eight years, housed some classes, but the heat didn’t always work. Some classes were held off site and the youth met at a local doughnut shop.

It was just a matter of time before space issues were addressed. So when former Pastor Luther Wright encouraged the congregation to be more focused on outreach, adding space became part of a larger outreach strategy. According to Interim Pastor Ted Kerr, “We wanted to be more than the little church on the hill.”

The congregation embarked on a building program in 1999. Financing for the new building included a fund-raising effort and a loan from the Mission Investment Fund for $1.475 million. According to former congregation President Cindy Thompson, King of Kings looked to local lenders for financing, but she said, “The MIF offered the best terms, were more flexible, and they understood our business.” She said that the Fund was also supportive during a major complication in the project.

The congregation’s outreach and building program visionary, Pastor Wright, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She said that many congregations will experience a drop in member involvement and stewardship during such a hardship, but the MIF hung with them. In the end, the congregation flourished and proudly dedicated the education wing to Pastor Wright in February 2004, about four months before he passed away.

In addition to the education wing, the building project included new offices and a kitchen. The old sanctuary was renovated into a fellowship hall. Aesthetically, the new construction blends with the old so that it’s visually consistent. And the building is designed to be expandable, so that future growth can be accommodated if things get cramped again.

King of Kings’ new space has allowed the congregation to expand its youth group. A full-time youth minister has been hired to serve the 60-70 youth who participate. There’s space for vacation Bible school, which drew a record 73 children in 2004, many of whom were not church members. Thompson says that some parents continue to bring their children to Sunday school.

Thompson emphasizes that the building is not the church or the ministry, but the new building enables the congregation to practice its outreach ministry in a growing community. She says that even during construction, the church attracted visitors. And now there are visitors every week.

Pastor Kerr said, “We didn’t have a ‘build it and they will come’ attitude, but they are coming.” He says that the new space provides “breathing room,” is more welcoming and encourages fellowship. Thompson says that the new building has better energy, imparting in members and visitors “excitement, enthusiasm and a sense of awe of the sacrifice that went into the new structure.”

The congregation is also looking for community groups to use the space to better integrate the church with the fabric of the community, and continue the journey of becoming a congregation dedicated to outreach.