By Chris Moon
After two years of strong growth, First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio, is expanding.
The historic church—once led by P. H. Welshimer—hopes to open its first campus location this fall. The church in November spent $2.1 million on a 33,000-square-foot building on 5 acres on the southwest side of Canton.
A portion of the building is used by an Ace Hardware and a landscaping company.
But the church plans to carve out about 18,000 square feet for its campus. The space will be used for worship on weekends and for community services during the week.
The church’s clothing and food ministry, Common Goods, will serve people at that location. And a local Christian counseling practice will offer its services there.
The building—located about a 15-minute drive from FCC’s campus on the city’s northeast side—will be called the Hope Center at Meyers Lake.
“That’s been on the radar for a while,” said Jimmy McLoud, FCC’s lead pastor.
BRINGING HOPE TO THE COMMUNITY
FCC began talking about opening additional campuses before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many people drive to the church from other parts of the region, McLoud said. Campus locations will allow them to worship closer to home.
At the same time, FCC doesn’t want to be a traditional multisite church, McLoud said. Instead, it wants to offer helpful community services at any location it opens.
The result is the expansion of its Common Goods ministry to the Meyers Lake site, as well as the Christian counseling service.
Last year, the church gave away 55,000 meals and 30,000 items of clothing through Common Goods. It also offers scholarships for people who seek counseling.
“We want to bring things that bring hope to the community,” McLoud said.
McLoud said the neighborhood surrounding the church has seen businesses leave in recent years.
“It’s definitely a neighborhood that needs some good things to happen,” he said.
The church is currently interviewing architects, said Rick Penny, FCC’s executive pastor. The construction work might be done by September.
The Ace Hardware store’s lease runs through 2027. Additional phases of construction in the building may take place if the hardware store were to move.
But First Christian Church wants to support the businesses in the area. Those businesses are needed, Penny said. And the church wants to build trust with the residents in the area.
“We’re there for them. We’re not leaving. We’re invested,” he said.
‘CRAZY GROWTH’
The launch of the new campus marks a pleasant new season for FCC in Canton. The church has been on a roller-coaster ride since the 2008 pandemic.
The church built a 127,000-square-foot building in 2006. But the 2008 recession hurt the church’s finances, and the lead pastor left in 2010.
The succeeding pastor lasted less than two years.
“The hits kept on coming,” McLoud said.
At one point, the church didn’t have enough money in its reserves to cover a week’s worth of expenses. The church eventually deeded its building back to its lender.
A new pastor brought new vision and growth. But then COVID happened, accompanied by another leadership change at the church.
But things are looking up.
The church now leases its building from The Solomon Foundation. Attendance is booming.
The church was averaging about 2,000 on weekends before the pandemic. That dropped to 1,600 about two years ago. Current attendance is at about 2,250.
“The last two years we’ve seen some crazy growth,” McLoud said. And along with it has come financial growth.
The church paid cash for its new $2.1 million campus. The rent from its tenants will help pay for renovations to the space.
“It’s just a testament to how good God’s been,” McLoud said.
First Christian Church in Canton has a rich history.
P. H. Welshimer led the church from 1902 to 1956, building it into one of the Restoration Movement’s first megachurches. The church had 6,000 members in the 1950s, according to The Repository, Canton’s daily newspaper.
McLoud said the church’s legacy is something its leaders are well aware of, even if many of its current congregants aren’t.
McLoud doesn’t count that history as a burden that adds pressure to his job. Instead, it’s something that points to the goodness of God.
“We’re proud of it because it shows God has been faithful to us for a really long time,” McLoud said.
Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colorado.
Have read of and heard of FCC, Canton, since my days at The Cincinnati Bible Seminary in the early 50’s. I remember attending an NACC in Canton in those days and seeing P.H. Welshimer in a session. Perhaps he spoke. It makes me rejoice to see the church expanding its service to the community. May God bless you as you carry on the rich heritage of FCC. It will be exciting to see what God has in store!