Three Loveland Churches Make Moves

December 12, 2014 Posted In

Written By: Shelley Windhalm

The Loveland Church of the Nazarene will be moving next year to Boyd Lake Village, so St. Spyridon Orthodox Church is moving into its building on 29th Street and the Namaqua Unitarian Universalist Congregation is moving to the St. Spyridon site.
Two of the churches have outgrown their facilities, and the third is looking for its first permanent home.
Loveland Nazarene, founded in 1924, has been in its current building at 807 W. 29th St. since 1973 and in the past three years has seen growth in the number of families attending the Sunday services.
When the Rev. Brian Smith came on five years ago, he aimed to reach younger families and did so by expanding the contemporary worship service and moving it from remote access in the gym to the sanctuary, where the traditional service is held earlier in the day.
“We’re going to be able to do what we already do, better,” Smith said.
The church, which saw numbers slightly increase from 174 members five years ago to 190 members, wanted more space to grow its ministries, particularly for children and youths, for the church band to perform and for parking.
Bob Walker, one of the church’s board members, met Troy McWhinney, chief investment officer and co-founder of Loveland development company McWhinney, and Jay Hardy, general manager of Centerra and vice president of McWhinney, a year ago in a casual setting and told them about the needs of the church after another property deal fell through.
Smith said God put it on Walker’s heart to speak to McWhinney and Hardy, with the result being a property for the church: 8 acres at a price tag of $1.25 million and another 3 acres donated by Troy and Chad McWhinney.
The church, north of East Eisenhower Boulevard and west of Boyd Lake Avenue, will be the first in the McWhinney development.
“While the area has had a lot of commercial growth over the last 20 years, we are currently seeing a lot of new families moving into the area,” Troy McWhinney said in an email statement. “The ability for current residents of Centerra and the immediate area to attend their nearby church assists the community as a whole.”
Smith held town hall meetings at the church and asked the congregation to vote on the purchase of the McWhinney property and sale of the current property.
“There was a real strong positive response,” Smith said.
Click here, to read the Loveland Reporter Herald article.