The twin congregations of the Lakeside Presbyterian Church (LPC) realized a dream that has been 18 months in the making when they both held Christmas Eve afternoon services in the church’s new building in Riberas.
Those attending the preview of the enormous new building were delighted to find that it now has sturdy walls and an innovative roof. There is even functioning electrical service and plumbing, at least enough for the inaugural holiday services that each featured carol singing, scripture reading, a short pastoral meditation and a Christmas pageant presented by La Ola, the children’s home sponsored by the church.
The Lakeside Presbyterian Church is unique in a variety of ways. While registered as a Presbyterian church, the members of the church’s two separate, but equal congregations are from a number of denominations. The Spanish-speaking portion of the church, the Iglesia Presbiteriana del Lago, meets with pastor Guillermo Banuet, while the English-speaking group meets under the leadership of Rev. Ross Arnold, D. Min., the volunteer LPC senior pastor. Add an active children’s Sunday school to the combined weekly average 180 members and the congregations’ wide range of acutely defined and determined community services and it’s no surprise that the group has outgrown the modest storefront location on the Carretera in Riberas they purchased not long after LPC was founded.
In mid-2013 the group purchased a former glove factory at the intersection of San Jorge and Avenida de la Ribera in the eastern sector of Riberas del Pilar. Before any work commenced, they first considered all foreseeable needs – not just space for Sunday services and Sunday School classes, but the plumbing, wiring and systems needed for future technological, ecological and theological growth.In the months since groundbreaking, the group has paid for this building project the Mexican way, with construction continuing at the same pace as fundraising.
“I cannot in good conscience allow a debt to be created, even for a building, that will follow our members into the future,” said Arnold. “We have been very blessed to be able to get this far into a project of this size so quickly, and to pay for it all as we go. It helped when we discovered that most of the building specialists we needed for the inception and planning of the building, soil and structural engineers, consultants, were members of our congregation.”
While the group used the new building for the Christmas Eve services, the congregation will not move into the phase one portion of the project until the next major church holiday – Easter Sunday. By then the 250 theater-style seats will have been installed in the nave. The focal point of the worship area will reflect the church’s logo. The giant Reformation Cross within a circle of flames is currently being handcrafted by local artisan Eloy Gonzalez. It will be mounted on a backdrop of varicolored natural stone.
The far-reaching scope of the project under the supervision of El Chante contractor Lorenzo Flores includes a myriad of modern amenities, including a cooled control room for the computers, a 5,000-liter aljibe, and a pump septic system designed for the poor perking soil in Riberas. At the end of the second phase of construction, a complete solar system will be installed to power the massive building’s state of the art systems, including the all-LED lights, and the sound and projection setups which can send the same or different audio or visual information to all rooms of the building.
The narthex will be open each day with a snack bar and coffee shop, providing a pleasant ambiance for those accessing the library or looking for respite. An elevator will convey visitors to the second-floor great hall where moveable walls will adjust spaces to meet the needs of the elderly, the young, single mothers, day care, feeding programs, etc., as are identified by the current survey of community services presently available, or not, for those in need or crisis.
A large room adjoining the sanctuary has been assigned as the main lecture and study area of the LPC-sponsored Lakeside Institute of Theology, a seminary-level study program which is licensed and certified by Mexico to offer certificate and degree courses ranging single classes to certification in Bible study to Master of Theology or Master of Theology and Ministry degrees. A total of 200 hours of institute lectures are available on the website LITChapala.org.
“We currently offer three courses at a time to between 40 and 50 students from the total 29 available courses,” said Arnold, the director and senior professor of the institute. He holds a Master’s Degree in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and studied theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. The local pastor’s studies have created a series of pleasant vacations for himself and his wife, Carolyn. He frequently shares his wealth of Biblical wisdom as a world religion expert on Windstar Cruises.
The new Lakeside Presbyterian Church was far from finished for the Christmas Eve services. In fact, the final details of phase one may not all be finished in time for the Easter Sunday services. And then, with scarcely time for a break ,the congregations will forge on with the second part of the ambitious project.
In phase two, a commercial kitchen and the adjoining large dining hall designed to not only meet the needs of the congregations, but also to function as a feeding program when necessary, will be constructed on the southwest portion of the lot. A basketball court and other amenities to appeal to youth, a chapel and meeting areas will be built and will be accessible via arched colonnades and walkways from the south-facing doorways in the new building.
At lakeside, where building techniques have changed little over the years, it’s fascinating to see up-to-date, and up to U.S. standard code details, especially when built into a new church. A series of photos detailing the construction from the inception to the current moment are available at the church website lpcchapala.org under the heading “news.”