ABOUT THE PROJECT
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF FELLOWSHIP CHURCH AND THE WAYS GOD HAS LED US TO THIS EXCITING STEP OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE
A NOTE FROM
PASTOR STEPHEN
Welcome—and thank you for taking time to learn more about what God is doing at Fellowship Church!
Over the years, the Lord has steadily grown our church—both spiritually and numerically—as people worship God, grow in biblical community, serve Christ’s church and our neighbors, and multiply healthy churches to pervade our community and the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because of that growth, we are stepping forward in faith into the next phase of our campus master plan—a thoughtful, intentional effort to steward and expand our facilities so we can continue to live out our mission and vision together.
We’re calling this project Gathered & Growing. At its heart, it is about faithfully stewarding what God has entrusted to us and preparing for what lies ahead. This project will create more space for worship, strengthen our ability to gather and connect, and better equip our church for ministry for generations to come.
As you explore this guide, my prayer is that you would see not simply a building project, but a vision for ministry—rooted in the Gospel and shaped by a desire to glorify God in all we do.
We invite you to join us by praying and considering how God might lead you to participate. We are grateful for the work God has already done—and excited for what he will do next.
For his glory,
Stephen Anderson
Lead Pastor
OUR ROOTS
The roots of Fellowship Church can be traced back to the early 1980s, when a handful of people who were meeting for a small Bible study sought to plant a church in the Back Mountain. God made provision for them, and by 1981 they gathered for their first worship service. They had a God-given passion for his glory, a desire to focus on the worship of God, and a deep commitment to study his Word so that they might be equipped to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with their community. Now, nearly fifty years later, God’s glory remains our passion, and he continues to lead more people to Fellowship Church.
OUR FUTURE
Out of a deep desire to honor God and to carry out our mission, we built a dedicated Worship Center through the project A Legacy of Worship, and opened our doors in early 2020. We have experienced five years of tremendous growth, including spiritual fruit and growth in Christlikeness among our body, a smooth, God-glorifying, and unified transition of leadership from Marc Ramirez to Stephen Anderson, the launch of a church plant, as well as continued ministry impact in the Back Mountain, Wyoming Valley, and the world.
From the beginning, it has been part of our Master Plan that the Worship Center would one day be complemented by a dedicated gathering space—a place that brings clarity, warmth, and connection to the front doors of our church, as well as space for discipleship and community. We believe now is the time to take the next step forward in the development of our campus.
WELCOME.
A warm and friendly space where all are welcomed in.
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When you walk into an unfamiliar church and aren’t sure where to go, it’s difficult to settle your heart for worship. At Fellowship, we want every person—longtime member or first-time guest—to feel immediately at home.
Our current Worship Center was intentionally designed to prioritize worship and the preaching of the Word. From the beginning, it has been part of our Master Plan that the Worship Center would one day be complemented by a dedicated gathering space—a place that brings clarity, warmth, and connection to the front doors of our church. We believe now is the time to take that next step.
Imagine pulling onto our campus and clearly recognizing a welcoming main entrance. Then you step into a bright, open space and immediately see a friendly face at guest services–ready to get to know you and help guide you. You catch the aroma of coffee from the nearby café. People are milling about, lingering at tables and greeting one another. Laughter and conversation fill the room. A book at the Resource Center draws your attention. The check-in area for Nursery and Kids Church is easy to spot. Everything about the space helps you feel oriented, included, and at ease.
We’re not trying to create something new so much as making room for what God is already doing among us. Fellowship is in our name, and it’s evident in who we are–what we lack is the space to express that with clarity and intention. By adding this gathering space, we’re shaping an environment that reflects the heart of our church and helps each person connect and prepare to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to hear his Word. This is hospitality with purpose, an expression of our mission to make disciples who display the glory of Christ in every phase of their lives.
CONNECT.
A dedicated place for meaningful relationships, encouragement, and discipleship.​
Scripture calls us to encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thess. 5:11). But on Sunday mornings, our current layout makes this challenging. People exit the Worship Center directly into the parking lot or crowd into the Community Room and quickly move on because there’s simply no place to gather. Meeting someone new or catching up with friends often feels rushed—or impossible.​
A dedicated gathering space changes that. Whether on a Sunday morning or during the week, it becomes an inviting place to slow down, share a conversation, deepen a friendship, share the gospel, pray together, or study Scripture. It’s a place to welcome newcomers, strengthen relationships, and live out our mission to make disciples who make disciples.
In short, it’s a space designed not only for gathering, but for growing—together.
EQUIP.
A thoughtfully designed addition that maximizes our campus for ministry - now and in the future.
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Can a hallway really advance the mission of a church? When it’s strategically designed, absolutely. The new corridor will connect the main entrance and gathering space to key areas of our campus, allowing people to move easily throughout the campus without passing through the Worship Center or the Community Room. This simple change dramatically increases the usefulness of our facility for multiple ministries and groups at the same time. The corridor will:
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provide a clear and welcoming path from the gathering space to the nursery and kids’ classrooms, helping first-time guests know exactly where to go while also easing congestion, keeping our children safe, and making drop-off and pick-up simpler
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create easy access to restrooms from various areas of the building
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offer a dedicated passageway around the Worship Center, freeing the Community Room to once again be a dedicated space for fellowship, discipleship, and ministry–both on Sundays and during the week
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establish critical infrastructure for future phases of the Master Plan
New tiered seating in the Worship Center—about 200 more seats—will replace our current temporary overflow seating, giving everyone the opportunity to see, hear, and participate in worship with the same intentionality as the rest of the room. This upgrade also adds roughly 70 more seats than our current overflow arrangement.
All of this reflects our desire to be good stewards of the facility God has entrusted to us. By making thoughtful improvements now, we strengthen our ability to be a worshipping, growing, serving, and multiplying community of believers for years to come.
