New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
HOMEGROWN CHURCH
With 9 satellite campuses in CT and Mass., Vox Church will build its first ‘anchor’ location in Branford
BRANFORD — The site where bowlers once scored strikes and spares is gone. In its place a church will rise to serve as an anchor for a growing congregation in Connecticut and beyond.
Vox Church, a nondenominational Christian group that launched as City Church in 2011 in New Haven, will build its first anchor location on Commercial Parkway, a 27,000-square-foot church where the congregation will be able not only to hold services, livestreaming them to its nine satellite churches, but have the space to hold ministry programs and meetings.
In addition to marriage and men’s and women’s conferences, there will be “other types of training and other types of ministry gatherings, in addition to our normal Sunday services, and we hope to have a Thursday night service as well,” said Tom Holeva, chief financial officer, who is overseeing the building project.
Now, Lead Pastor Justin Kendrick gives his message from College Street Music Hall on Sundays, which is
streamed to the satellite campuses in Fairfield, Stamford, North Haven, Middletown, Hartford, New Britain, Springfield and Worcester, Mass.
While he said “everything’s written in pencil,” Holeva said “our hope and our mission” is to expand to New London, Boston and Providence in the next two to three years, and to build another anchor site in Hartford (the rest are rented spaces). Waterbury also is being considered.
“We hope by 2025, our mission is to have 25 locations” throughout New England, Holeva said. While the concept of a parish meeting in multiple locations is not the traditional model in the Northeast, “it’s pretty common in the rest of the country,” Holeva said. “Everyone in your membership is hearing the same message, so it allows you to unify even though you’re miles and miles apart.”
Kendrick said the basis of the message is the teachings of Jesus and the prime role of the Bible, building an intentional community and serving the people in its local area, especially in the cities, by forming partnerships with existing organizations that are helping the needy.” There’s a lot of people who are open to a different kind of church,” he said.
“We want to serve the Branford community and the shoreline, no doubt about it,” Kendrick said. “For us this provides a hub.”
While “in the world of COVID it’s hard to track membership,” he said the church had about 3,000 people attending services before the pandemic, and “we’ve seen that nearly double through our online participation since COVID started.”
The long-closed Cherry Hill Bowling Lanes has been demolished and Holeva said Babbidge Construction Co. of New Haven will begin to pour concrete in June for the $4.5 million church. “We hope to be open for church services for the holidays,” he said.
“It’s such a monumental part of our church
growth. We’ll be celebrating our 10th year in September, so it’s a big moment for our church,” Holeva said.
“It is going to be a modified, pre-engineered metal building” with a 500-seat auditorium/ sanctuary, he said. “Stewardship is really important to us.” Tecton Architects of Hartford will be “renovating the exterior to give it a little curb appeal,” he said.
The land is being leased from Cherry Hill Construction of North Branford, so it will remain on the tax rolls, according to First Selectman James Cosgrove.
“That specific site has been an area we were hoping to be redeveloped for a number of years, so it’s good to see activity,” Cosgrove said.
While the onetime City Church will be headquartered in the suburbs, College Street Music Hall still will be used for services, Holeva said. “We spent several years trying to find a location in New Haven,” he said, but a site with adequate parking and space to build couldn’t be found.
He said many of those on the project team are volunteers, “the Body of Christ working together to bring forth this project
has been really great to be involved with,” he said.
One of the major advantages will be to have space to expand the parish’s children’s ministry. Maria Conrad, kids’ ministry director, said, “we’re really ready to teach them about Jesus.” The program includes children from 6 months through fifth grade, she said. “Even at 6 months, these kids are being prayed for.”
There also will be a preteen group. “We believe that community will allow for profound spiritual impact for our kids,” she said.
Charles Maynard of
Madison started attending services two years ago and joined Vox Church six months later.
“I graduated school and was an adult and was really looking for a place to root my life,” he said. “I stumbled across Vox and it felt like home because of how loving everyone was.”
He has led two community groups, “a place for people to come and meet new people and interact with the family of God and not just [on] Sunday,” he said. “It’s just awesome to see the smiles.”