Lakeside Christian Church holds double celebration

by Wendy Turrell

Lakeside Christian Church celebrated twin milestones at its Nov. 3 worship service: the fifteenth anniversary of the church founding and the dedication of a new wing that doubled the space for family programs.

The new addition at the Knollwood Lane church is a congregational aspiration that started before the pandemic. Pastor Petar Nenadov said, “We were overflowing in our kids’ wing and had to use our fellowship hall for additional classroom space.”

Nenadov said the church purchased the property next door in 2019, then worked on a design with Jason Boltz of Wheeler Boltz Architects to remodel the existing 2,500-square-foot children’s wing and add an additional 2,500 feet. The addition required the relocation of the church driveway and included two new classrooms, a large worship area and a café for teens.

Art Graf Builders was chosen for the work and the project was supposed to start in February 2020.

“Two weeks later the country shut down,” said Nenadov. “We immediately suspended our plans. Our focus turned to the physical and spiritual needs of people during the pandemic.”

In spite of this setback, Nenadov said congregation members continued to give toward the project while it was on hold. He explained, “By 2021 we had enough funds to remodel our existing space. Originally, we thought we would have to build the expansion first, move our programming into the new space, and then we could remodel the existing space.”

Instead, Lakeside Church began with the remodel, which was complete at the beginning of 2022. “At that time, many people were still worshiping from home, and we did not know if the expansion would even be necessary,” said Nenadov. “By Resurrection Sunday [Easter] of that year, however, the majority of people returned to worship in person, and, combined with those who had recently come to us, we had actually grown.”

The new construction began at the end of 2022. “We prioritized finishing the exterior first, so it didn’t look like a construction site for too long for the sake of our neighbors, and that was completed in 2023,” Nenadov said.

The interior of the family-programming wing was completed this summer, opening for the first time on Labor Day weekend. Nenadov said he was grateful the total cost of the land acquisition, renovation and expansion was fully funded over the years it took shape.

Nenadov said the new space was primarily designed to increase the church’s capacity for more people to gather for worship. But since the old teen space was the only portion of the building that was not wheelchair accessible, he added, “Our goal in the expansion was greater capacity and accessibility.”

Lakeside Christian Church member and artist Luke Stretar created a painting for the new teen center. Stretar has donated two of his other paintings to the church in celebration of previous milestones.

Jonathan Holmes, executive director of Fieldstone Counseling, and former pastor of counseling at Parkside Church, delivered the message for the dedication of the new youth wing: “A high calling for the next generation.” His sermon focused on nurturing youth on the message of Christ.

Lakeside’s outreach has included the congregation’s support of the Sobie family, who provided physical and spiritual aide to the beleaguered people of war-torn Ukraine in the early years of the war.

Lakeside’s current outreach includes support of Zeke and Kayla Morales and their family in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, where they oversee the Abba Father Children’s Home. The Morales’ provide a home and Christian education to orphans in the southern area of Oaxaca. Kayla Miller Morales is a graduate of Revere High School, who attended the celebratory service as she was in Ohio for the recent birth of her son. ∞

Main photo: The new youth room addition features classrooms, a worship area and cafe for teens. Photo by Wendy Turrell.