Lifepointe breaks ground on permenant home

Lifepointe Christian Church, a mainstay in Fort Mill since 2004, broke ground recently on a permanent building slated for completion in November.

Construction will begin in April at the new location on Fort Mill’s York Southern Road, behind Del Webb’s Carolina Orchards community off Springfield Pkwy.

The church has been renting the former Knights Baseball training facility building since its founding. The building and land – owned by Charlotte-based fashion retailer Cato – will be turned into a mixed-use development that includes a hotel, restaurants and housing, according to plans filed about a year ago.

With the announcement of Cato’s plans, church leaders began weighing options. They looked at existing buildings in the area, but nothing quite fit the church’s needs, said lead pastor Nate Siemon, 33.

“We were just saying, ‘OK God, what’s our next step?’” he said.

As a growing church with two Sunday morning services that sees 800 congregants on any given Sunday, leaders decided the church needed a “permanent presence” in Fort Mill, Siemon said.

The building process will have three phases, but the church will move after phase one – which includes an 18,000 square-foot facility with a 400-seat auditorium. Phase two will grow the facility to 34,000 square feet and 1,000 auditorium seats and double the children’s ministry space. Phase three includes 12,000 seats and additional children’s space.

There’s “a lot of excitement” among congregants about the move, said Siemon, who has led the church for nearly four years and has served on staff since 2005.

“It’s once in a lifetime in a church when you get to go from temporary to permanent,” he said. “To be a part of the group that made that happen, that just increases that excitement.”

Siemon and his wife Emilee have two children, Shaw, 6, and Rosalie, 4. Emilee serves as the church’s children’s pastor.

The church puts an emphasis on relationships over religion, Siemon said.

“We’re not about religion or going to church because it’s what you do in the South,” he said. “Church is a family you belong to, not an event you attend.”

Lifepointe’s mission is for all people to “experience a fully alive relationship with Jesus,” Siemon said. “Everything we do at Lifepointe is centered around helping you discover that life to the full.”

“We believe as a church that God has created you for a purpose – and that purpose is greater than anything you’ve ever experienced.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Lifepointe breaks ground on permenant home."