Riverview Church has moved into phase two of its $4.5 million expansion and renovation.
The 26,400 square foot addition, which included a new 1,200-seat auditorium, large lobbies, bathrooms and nurseries, is complete. Now the church is renovating its existing auditorium, which it will turn into a small wedding chapel, classrooms and a new lobby area.
Exponential growth fueled the expansion. Pastor Noel Hikkinen says in 2000, they had a plan to grow their 200-person congregation to 500 by 2008. They hit 500 people within three months.
“We’ve grown 1,000 percent, and we have 2,000 to 3,000 people,” he says.
While Hikkinen says speculating the cause of the growth is “complete conjecture.” He did say that the church intentionally caters to college students, singles and young families.
“We intentionally focus on that group of people, and that group of people in American Christianity is largely unreached,” he says.
Hikkinen says the church’s casual atmosphere, which includes Indie rock and bluegrass bands, is attractive to this demographic.
“As soon as we can, we’re going to build an entirely new children’s phase,” Hikkinen says.
Riverview Church is on Willoughby Road in Lansing, close to the intersection of College Road and Willoughby Road.
Source: Ed Granger, Granger Construction
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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