Living Waters church looks forward to completion of construction

And the smell of two-day old cafeteria food isn't as soothing as melting wax and altar flowers.

But members of Living Waters Community Church are making do.

They know the months of hardship will be worth it.

Because come next spring, they'll no longer need to rent the cafeteria at Bonita Middle School for worship services, nor will they be forced to hold group meetings in each other's homes. Next spring, Living Waters will have a new church.

Currently under construction -- the shiny, copper roof went up this week --the church's completion date is early April, less than a year after the entire construction project began at the corner of Bonita Beach Road and Vermont Street.

"(We're going to be able to) reach more people for Christ. We're going to be able to expand the ministries in a greater way to influence more people for God," said Pastor Russell Winn. "We'll have the room to do it. I believe this building will be a launching pad to the next level of ministry for our church. I feel like we plateaued a little, we were at a crossroads."

The $2.7 million project, which maxes out the entire 2.6 acre plot of land the church owns on Bonita Beach Road, will guide the church to where it wants to be: at the forefront of the religious movement in Bonita.

The 20,100-square-foot main building has a 400-seat sanctuary, administrative offices, classroom space and a daycare facility to accommodate 79 children. There's also a recreational/youth building with 8,000 square feet of space under air, including a gymnasium and a mezzanine game room to host an after-school program for elementary school children.

The church plans to keep both buildings in constant use.

"What we want to do is utilize our facility five days a week," said Winn, who feels starting the daycare and after-school program will benefit the community, as well as build the already strong youth program at the church.

"That is something we've felt since I first started here, we've always wanted to do a ministry for kids. We have a full-time youth pastor and they meet at Bonita Springs Middle and they run about 65 kids each week and we are getting ready to hire a full-time children's pastor," Winn said. "We see more young families moving to the Bonita area. It's not just a retirement community anymore and we're seeing a real need to reach out to those families. And as they're shopping for churches, one of the things they're looking for are how are these churches meeting the needs of our kids?"

It's a question the church struggled with for years as it ran summer camps out of its cramped quarters, hosted Sunday school classes with not enough space and held fund-raisers that used all the space the church had to offer.

After watching the church wiggle when the topic of building arose, the congregation breathed a sigh of relief and pledged to help.

A capital stewardship campaign held in March, where parishioners promise to donate funds above and beyond their regular giving, ended with a pledge for $1 million over the next three years. Add that to the $900,000 already in the building fund, and the price tag isn't so staggering.

What also helps is the church's location, Winn said.

"What's happening in the money end of it is they can actually see it being built. They can see their dollars at work, they can drive down Bonita Beach Road and see the steel going up," Winn said.

Sharon Leamon, 54, of North Naples, isn't worried about the money.

"God has been doing things that blow you away," said Leamon, a five-year member of the church. "The money will be there. God met our needs and the money will be there. We've stepped out but God will never let you down."

It was with the faith in God that Winn and the congregation went ahead and demolished the former church to clear the way for the new one with its contemporary design and the much needed space. Even when Winn started the church eight years ago and inherited the land and building from the former owners, First Assemblies of God -- the same denomination that Living Waters is a part of -- Winn knew this time would come.

The buildings were small, outdated, and simply didn't look like a church; many compared it to a motel, Winn said.

But it was only now that the time was right.

Luis Cuevas has been a member of the church for the past four years. He says the amount of growth he's seen is amazing, but not surprising. He can't wait to see what the new building will bring.

"I think it's going to bring in more people," said Cuevas, 48, who joined the church because of the people who made him feel at home the moment he walked in the doors. "It wouldn't surprise me if we have three or four services on Sundays."

For now, those Sunday services are still months off and the congregation still gathers at 9:30 a.m. in the cafeteria, with volunteers arriving hours early to prepare the classrooms for the nursery and Sunday school and to set up the metal folding chairs in the cafeteria.

But that's only one morning a week. The rest of the week they gather at homes throughout the community, like at the home Bill and Dorese Hoover. Each Wednesday they host a study group in their Bonita Springs home.

While all home groups won't cease once the new church is up, ones like the Hoovers -- those with children who could use a gymnasium or game room -- would be transferred to the church.

"We want it to hurry up," said Dorese, 40, the mother of two. "There will be more things for the kids to do."

Contact Features Editor Kristen Smith at 213-6043 or kmsmith@naplesnews.com