Journey Church to expand
Outward and upward
By Hollen Wheeler; rendering courtesy of Journey Church
Journey Church, on Clydesdale Road, has plans to double its facility size to accommodate a growing membership. The renderings (shown above) reveal the before-and-after vision to expand the auditorium and double the youth space.
Journey Church will double its facility size to accommodate a growing membership that has experienced exponential growth. When the church opened its doors on Clydesdale Road in 2017, it had a membership of 500; today, the church family is 3,500.
Journey launched its “Build” campaign in January, a two-year fundraising effort with the hopes of raising $8 million to “make room for more,” according to church literature. Culminating on “Commitment Sunday,” which was February 27, church members had the opportunity to decide on their level of participation. The funding will be used to expand the auditorium to provide 40% more seats, double the youth space, and begin a second campus.
“It’s the largest possible facility we can build on our current piece of property,” stated Scotty Priest, senior pastor. “This will allow us to move forward in our ministry and widen our impact.” Priest further noted that it has been heartbreaking to see people leave the campus due to lack of available seating even after extra services and overflow rooms were added.
The Board of Douglas County Commissioners approved site plans just before the pandemic, delaying the campaign until this year.
Journey Church has had an interesting evolution. In 2006, Priest was invited to fill a vacant spot as a lead pastor for a church in Highlands Ranch. Priest and his wife, Amy, came from Georgia to Colorado, loved the area and felt called to move with their young family the following year.
The first Journey Church met in a hotel ballroom and eventually moved to a rented facility, a ‘70s-era grocery store on Holly Street in Highlands Ranch. As the membership grew, more space was rented next door to the supermarket in a gymnastics facility. In 2015, a couple who owned the Clydesdale Road property in Castle Pines approached Journey Church about selling it to them. The property was already zoned for a church facility, and Journey Church bought the land for $450,000.
A fundraising campaign ensued and Journey Church opened the doors to its very own facility in August 2017. The congregation has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. More than 4,000 people attended the Christmas services in 2019. Today, approximately 1,500 attend in-person every Sunday and 600 streaming devices tune in as well.
Construction will begin in April, and the renovation should take approximately eight to 12 months. Regular church services will not be disrupted during the expansion. For additional information, visit journeycolorado.com.
