Plain City church to triple in size

Messenger photo by Kristy Zurbrick Maranatha Community Fellowship Church in Plain City will nearly triple in size once an expansion project that began in December is completed later this year.

By the end of this year, Maranatha Community Fellowship Church will no longer be the small church at the junction of Route 42, Middle Pike and Lucas Road, south of Plain City.

It will be the big church.

The congregation of 150 people has raised money for an expansion that totals over 14,000 square feet. Approximately 9,000 square feet will house a full-size gymnasium, with a permanent stage, that will double as a sanctuary with room to seat 640 people. The other 5,400 square feet will house a lobby, rest rooms, Sunday school classrooms and the church office.

The steel-and-siding addition will connect directly to the existing church, which is roughly 5,400 square feet. The original building will become the fellowship hall with room for additional Sunday school classrooms.

The congregation has outgrown its original space, relying on portable units to house Sunday school classes, but that’s not the only reason for the expansion.

"We want to reach out to the county’s youth with programs and offer a whole-some place for people to come together," said Elton Yutzy, the church’s pastor. "The extra space will give us the opportunity to do a lot more and serve the community more."

Beyond the possibility of holding open gyms, Yutzy said the congregation hasn’t set any programming in stone.

"We want to get a building up and see what we can develop after that," he said. "We want to use the building for more than an hour-and-a-half on Sunday mornings."

The planning process for the expansion began three years ago. The permit process made for slow-going early on, Yutzy said. The groundwork finally started in December, and the steel arrived at the end of January.

"I’m glad we finally got it under way," Yutzy said.

Maranatha continues to hold regular services in the original building while the construction goes on. Sunday school hours are 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., followed by the worship service from 10:30 to noon.