February 18, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, February 18, 2005

Greater glory

Pleasanton's oldest church will soon become its newest.

City officials have given approval to the Pleasanton Presbyterian Church to construct a multi-million-dollar new church complex on a six-acre site at the corner of Valley Avenue and Busch Road. The property is part of the 92-acre Busch property, commonly referred to as the old Pumpkin Patch, that is now being developed with homes and apartments by Ponderosa Homes as part of its new Ironwood community.

The new church would include four buildings totaling just under 100,000 square feet of floor space, including a roof line 45-feet high, a three-story sanctuary, and other buildings planned for church activities for youths, seniors and its popular Kinderkirk preschool, which now serves more than 100 families.

A feature of the architecturally striking design will be a replica of the church tower from what is today the Lighthouse Baptist Church at Neal and Second streets. That building, constructed in 1876, was the first Pleasanton Presbyterian Church, a congregation that had been organized the year before.

Its board member and chief fundraiser at the time was Joshua Neal, a Pleasanton pioneer for whom Neal Street is named.

"His challenge to church trustees was to build the entire church, including pews, for $2,500," said the Rev. Mike Barris, today's pastor of the Pleasanton Presbyterian Church and a driving force in building the new Ironwood community church. "Our congregation used the Neal Street church for 103 years - from 1876 to 1979 - before we outgrew it and built our current facility on Mirador Drive. Now we've outgrown this one."

Pleasanton Presbyterian, located at 4300 Mirador Drive, has more than 550 members with a sanctuary that seats far fewer. With outreach programs that include Scout meetings, events for young people, mothers and seniors, and a Korean language ministry, church facilities are frequently bursting at the seams. Even with once-ample off-street parking, many parishioners and other visitors to the church have to park on neighborhood streets and walk several blocks to services.

"The fact that we are continuing to grow is good news," Barris said. "But both the city and our neighbors believe we have reached our limit, and we agree."

Barris, who has been pastor of the church for the last seven years, assembled a team to consider a new church facility.

"It was an unusual task in that we had no plan, no money and no land," he said. "Our capital campaign was called 'Walking in Faith,' and we really did just that. We told our congregation that in Pleasanton, where land for churches is extremely scarce and expensive, that this could be a very long-term process."

But Barris said someone on high must have been listening because opportunities opened more quickly than anyone had hoped. The capital campaign's initial efforts raised $2 million very rapidly, and funding efforts are continuing. Then Ponderosa, which had tried unsuccessfully for years to build houses on the Pumpkin Patch, took a new approach. Working with then-Mayor Tom Pico and others, company executives cut the number of proposed single family homes from 300 to 193. They added a 172-unit senior apartment complex along Busch Road, offered the Pleasanton school district a 10-year option on buying a 23-acre site for future use, and offered Pleasanton Presbyterian the six-acre corner site. Neighbors in the Mohr-Martin neighborhood who had opposed the developer's earlier plans agreed to support the new proposal, and city planners later gave the Presbyterians their blessing on the church complex after the church agreed to lower a proposed 70-foot-high cross tower to one no higher than the 45-foot-high roof peak.

With city approvals in hand, Barris said it will take at least another year to complete detailed architectural designs and obtain building permits. Groundbreaking for the sanctuary will occur shortly thereafter. Additional buildings will be constructed in three more phases to include a children's center, youth activity center, adult education facility and a small chapel.

The new sanctuary will ultimately hold 900 parishioners, but space will be limited to 400 during the phased construction stages. Although facing the intersection of Busch and Valley, the actual entryways to the sanctuary will be through a landscaped courtyard at the center of the complex which will serve all other buildings and meeting places. The courtyard will be shielded from homes to be built nearby in Ironwood by a seven-foot wall Ponderosa will construct and landscape.

The Iron Horse Trail, which Ponderosa is building around its development, will also skirt Pleasanton Presbyterian, with other pathways leading to the adjacent senior housing apartments. The Presbyterians have committed to providing special care and programs earmarked for seniors as part of the Ironwood development.

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 put on conferences that will be of interest to the broader Christian community in the Tri-Valley, such as having conferences and supporting local seminaries in the training of pastors," 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."

Pleasanton Presbyterian has long been active in the city, known for its social programs and community outreach. Years ago, its men's club organized the Balloon Platoon, a spirited group of men who wear sailor outfits over tire innertubes wrapped around their waists and entertain at parades, both in Pleasanton and in other cities around the world.

A part of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the church also is home to a Korean language service each Sunday afternoon. The Koreans hold services in English and Korean and use the Mirador Drive church for weekday meetings and youth programs.

Barris and others often lead youth trips to other countries to work on church-related projects. Last year, he and his daughter Caitlyn, 17, a senior at Foothill High School, joined other church groups on a trip to Costa Rica, working on construction projects to help the poor and with elementary school children.

Barris came to Pleasanton in 1997 from the Irvine (Calif.) Presbyterian Church, where he was the pastor. He and his wife Debra have two other children, Andrew, 19, and Christopher, 15.

"We want Pleasanton Presbyterian to be a place where people can enjoy life together, experience what it means to belong and to share, to serve and to pray, to grow and laugh and worship, and to cherish one another," he said.

"This is what our new church complex is designed to do," he added.

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