Facility Expansion

God has been unfolding his plan for our church facilities ever since the very beginning of our church back in 1837.  Back then a tiny group of less than 50 Presbyterians decided to start a congregation here in what was then the little town of Liberty Corner.  They purchased some land (15 acres!!) and built a little brick sanctuary in which to conduct their worship.  Thirty years later, just after the Civil War, God gave the congregation (now about 100 people) a vision to build a sanctuary three times the size of what they needed!  They constructed the sanctuary in which we presently worship.  Alongside the sanctuary they built “the Session Room” (now called the Amos Room – named after William Amos, one of our former pastors) in which to conduct Sunday School and church business. 

Over the years the church continued to grow and our facilities grew little by little.  In 1958 Douglas Hall and several classrooms were constructed and in 1969 the sanctuary was enlarged to include a choir loft and choir room.

In 1992, the congregation grew to the point that we needed many more classrooms for our expanding child care, Sunday School and youth ministries. Thus a Christian education wing was added that included more classrooms, nurseries and offices.

In 1999, as the result of a deliberate and prayerful effort to discern God’s vision for our future ministry here in Liberty Corner, the congregation embraced a Master Facilities Expansion Plan that would accommodate our growing congregation and facilitate the new ministries we were envisioning.  It was agreed to construct the new facilities in two phases.  The first phase, completed in the summer of 2003, included 10 more classrooms for adults, youth and children, 15 offices for our church staff and a large multi-purpose gymnasium, conference and worship center called Center Court.  In addition 100 more parking spaces were added to the campus. 

Presently, Liberty Corner Church is embarking upon the completion of their Master Facilities Expansion Plan.  The architectural firm of George Yu Architects has been retained to design a new sanctuary and gathering space to accommodate our bursting worshipping congregation and to provide the badly needed space for our community to congregate.  This final phase of our construction will allow for our community to both worship in one place, and have a hub through which we can connect on Sunday mornings and throughout the week. 

With all this being said about buildings, we here at Liberty Corner believe very strongly that the church has very little to do with buildings.  It has everything to do with God and his people.  Our “facilities” are designed and built in order to “facilitate” the worship and ministry of God’s people.  Under these roofs is conducted the business of “making disciples of Jesus Christ” and within these walls we house the “compelling Christ-centered community”.   Every shovel that we have placed and will place into the ground and every board and brick we have erected and will erect, is all to the glory of God and to the fervent hope that those who come our way will enter into the presence of the Almighty and accept the grace and love we know in his Son Jesus Christ.