A 15-year-old church that has been operating in rented spaces is now building a campus of its own.
Hope Community Church bought five acres of vacant land adjacent to the former Capilla Del Sol church at 3130 W. Overton Road, near North Thornydale Road.
The existing chapel doesn’t accommodate the 500-plus members of Hope’s congregation, so the church will be adding 18,000 square feet to the existing 5,700-square-foot facility with a dedicated kids' space, said Randy Brainard, lead pastor of Hope Community Church.
The days of rolling up trailers to rented space at Wilson Elementary School and hotels will soon be over.
“Hope has been a church without a property,” Brainard said. “It feels like getting your first home ... like when you get married and live in apartments for a while and then have your first opportunity at owning your very own house.”
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Along with the new worship space and classrooms, Hope will have expansive parking and an outdoor area for socializing and events.
Hope Community Church will build a new chapel to accommodate its more than 500 members.
“We are being strategic and producing some great outdoor spaces with shade, trees, etc., that will provide us opportunities for lunch after church, outdoor baptisms and events,” he said.
Church leaders held a neighborhood meeting earlier this month to share plans with residents and get feedback.
“Our neighbors are super sweet (but) some, for sure, are not excited about the change since the property has been mostly vacant for a long time,” Brainard said. “Some of the neighbors have asked for more mature trees to be placed in the setback spaces and some kindness on where we might place our dumpster — which, of course, we can do.”
Construction on the $4.5 million project will begin July 1 with a planned buildout of 18 months.
Hope was launched from Northwest Bible Church in 2011 by its youth pastor and about 70 congregants.
Visit hopetucson.com for more information.
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