Sitting on a 45-acre site off U.S. 61 not far from Cape County Park North, Cape Girardeau's Lynwood Baptist Church is preparing for expansion.
Mark Anderson, senior pastor of the 1,300-member congregation, said Lynwood -- which launched in 1959 and has been at its current site since 1996 -- needs additional space but will take a careful approach in accommodating its growing ministries.
"Absolutely we want to be wise stewards of the resources God has given us so that we don't overextend ourselves financially," said Anderson, who originally led Lynwood from 1994 to 2000.
After eight years pastoring in Jackson, Mississippi, Anderson returned to lead Lynwood in 2008.
"We currently have 66,000 square feet of ministry space and plan to add 38,000 more," said Anderson, 63, who took pains to emphasize Lynwood is still in what he called a "design" phase.
"This is what we anticipate doing, but we still have to go through cost estimates and a financial campaign to determine what we can actually afford. We're in the planning stages. This is our desire and our goal, but we'll have better information this fall. The full scope of the project may end up needing changes; it may need to be scaled down," he said, adding Lynwood has two Sunday morning services, three Sunday school hours and has been livestreaming worship since before the pandemic.
"Approximately three years ago, the church made the decision to assume responsibility for Cape Christian Community School. (Their leadership) was looking for a facility," he said.
The school, now called Lynwood Christian Academy, has been growing.
"We started under the LCA banner with 35 students. We have grown to 95 children and we're anticipating approximately 120 this coming fall," said Anderson, who said church leaders are planning to create "dual use" space, available for both school and church use.
"We're not building a separate facility for the school. What we will add will be contiguous to our current structure and all of our age groups will be able to use it."
Anderson said the current vision is to add a gymnasium, a larger dining space, plus additional classrooms and offices plus ballfields to ensure what he called a "holistic" experience for students.
Anderson said Lynwood also has a weekday preschool ministry called Footprints.
"We anticipate going into a capital campaign and entering a bid process around November to select a general contractor with an eye toward starting construction in January 2024," Anderson said.
A best case scenario would see occupying the expanded facility by summer 2025, he added.
"What we're trying to do is engage students and their families to experience academic excellence through a biblical worldview and equip students for life," Anderson said, noting he and the congregation are also supporters of public education and the home-school movement.
"We're not anti-public education at all and, as a church, we're very much engaged in supporting public schools. We just feel (our academy) gives families an option who want Christian education."
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