Pleasanton Presbyterians are on the move–again.
For the last four months, the congregation at Pleasanton’s oldest church has been sitting on folding chairs in a business park conference room and facing a makeshift altar.
But longtime pastor Mike Barris is still there, cheering them on with his PowerPoint notes and hymns shown on the large screen behind him, just as he’s done for the last 10 years at 4300 Mirador Drive, which Pleasanton Presbyterian Church built in 1979. Before that, the church had used the church building at 118 Neal St., which the early Pleasanton Presbyterians built in 1876, making it the first church in town.
The church sold its Mirador complex last year to the St. Mary & St. John Egyptian Orthodox faith. The transaction added more needed capital to the Presbyterians’ ambitious multi-million-dollar funding program to allow the church to accelerate its new 6-acre development project at Valley Avenue and Busch Road. With its unique Sprung tent-shaped structure highly visible from Valley Avenue that will serve as a temporary main sanctuary–work is being completed on two permanent buildings that will serve as a children’s center, youth activity center and adult education facility.
Barris hopes the congregation can move in by mid-April.
At that time, the historic Pleasanton Presbyterian Church name will also change. The congregation has adopted a new name: Centerpointe Presbyterian Church, with its day care facility changing its name to Centerpointe Christian Pre-school.
“Our new name reflects the wonderful idea that what we have is a living faith that is founded in God’s love that becomes the center of our lives,” Barris, who has been the church pastor for the last 10 years, explained. “We want to go out and share God’s love with the world from this place that we are located in.”
“The cool thing we have learned from our experience at CarrAmerica is that our church is not about buildings,” he added. “It’s about the people of God being together in worship, expressing God’s love to others and about sharing that love with others to hopefully make a difference both locally and in the world beyond.”
Still, the scores of volunteers who truck the sound equipment and religious items needed for Sunday services back and forth to CarrAmerica each Sunday are anxious to see everyone and everything back together again, this time at the church’s new campus.
Barris said the Sprung stressed membrane facility will hold up to 320 congregants at each of his church’s two Sunday services. A third service may have to be scheduled because of the rapid growth of the congregation.
Church growth, especially a surge in pre-school, elementary and high school age youths attending Pleasanton Presbyterian, is why Barris embarked on a major expansion project in 2000. At the time, his plan was to expand the Mirador site, but neighbors and city planners were opposed. Barris and his committee started looking for another location. Their timing was right.
About the same time, Ponderosa Homes, which had tried unsuccessfully for years to build houses on the Valley Avenue, Busch Road, Mohr Avenue site, once called the Pumpkin Patch, was nearing a new agreement with city leaders for a 193-home development that would also include a 172-unit senior apartment complex. Kyle Morgan, Ponderosa’s chief executive, offered Barris the 6-acre corner site at a discount. With a successful fundraiser campaign under way and a low interest loan from the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the Pleasanton church acquired the land and then obtained approvals from the city for its architect’s plans for the entire complex. Although only part of that master plan is being developed now, the church has installed all utilities and communications conduit underground to handle all future building plans.
Soon after the church moves to the new complex, plans are to start work on a fellowship hall that will give the church more meeting space. Construction of the main sanctuary, which will ultimately hold 900 parishioners, is still at least five years away, with fundraising efforts to soon get under way for that project. Already, Pleasanton Presbyterian has as much as $11 million invested in land acquisition, site development and the new buildings.
A walk through the complex last week showed workers completing an elaborate landscaping plan with shrubs and trees that will shield the buildings and outdoor church activities from nearby Ironwood homes and apartments. Pathways into Ironwood, however, will give easy access for residents to walk to the church complex.
“This is truly a church within a park,” Barris said. “We are located next to the Iron Horse Trail as well as the Ironwood community and we welcome everyone–hikers, cyclists and seniors–to stop by and rest in our courtyard at anytime and whether they want to come to our church or not,” Barris said. “This will be a park-like setting with benches, chairs and, some days, even refreshments where we hope our neighbors can come to sit, relax, enjoy a good book or join with others in discussion groups.”
Barris said a key feature of the new church complex will be programs and facilities to serve the entire community, including conference rooms and a multi-media facility.
“I’m hoping that we can host conferences that will be of interest to the broader Christian community in the Tri-Valley,” Barris said. “We’ll also expand our preschool programs with larger, permanent facilities, have indoor space large enough for teen dances and gatherings, and a small chapel for more private worship.”
Clearly, the focus in the new church complex is on youth. The new buildings already constructed feature an architectural design of peaks and porches, a design that reflects a homey feel, not an institutional feel. Each section of the buildings includes outdoor porches with benches, where classes can meet or parents wait. The preschool has six classrooms built around the preschool office, all with energy-efficient lighting and windows.
Outside, a secure fenced area includes an assortment of playground equipment, including a water feature and garden area for youngsters to learn how to grow plants. Centerpointe Pre-School is enrolling students now, Barris said, for its two-day, three-day and five-day year-round programs, which will start in May.
Church programs for youth include a nursery, a program for children up to fourth grade, Club 56 for fifth- and sixth-grade students, Ignition for middle school students and Fusion for high school-age students. The older students also embark on mission projects, with recent summer and school vacation-time trips to Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Hurricane Katrina devastated areas in and around New Orleans.
Often leading these trips are Barris, his wife Debra, and their three children: Andrew, 22, who just graduated from college and is now working on a teaching credential; Caitlyn, 20, a student at Pepperdine University; and Christopher, 18, a senior at Foothill High School. The Barris family lives near Muirwood Community Park.
What’s sure to become the centerpiece of Centerpointe is the courtyard now being completed. This is a large expanse of concrete and landscaping that all buildings, including the Sprung structure, face onto where the congregation will gather for outdoor social events and religious services. Embedded in the concrete are a large metal cross and a baptismal pool for sprinkling, pouring or full immersion baptisms.
One end of a new building is rounded with sliding glass doors that can be opened, featuring indoor tables and counters for refreshments on Sunday mornings after church services.
“If you’re driving by and see us gathered out here on a Sunday morning, turn around and come into our Ironwood community parking lot and have a cup of coffee with us,” Barris said.
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