The sluggish economy was one of the factors that led the church to go ahead with the building project now. “Our need for growth coincided with the general trend in the economy and that made it cheaper to build than at other times. It accelerated the process.”

After eight years of slow but steady growth in a rented facility, Christ the Word Church (PCA) is in the process of building its first permanent home.

An 88,000-square-foot building, whose precast concrete and glass give it a clean, contemporary look, is going up at the corner of Central Avenue and Murd Road in Richfield Township. The 20-acre site is just west of Sylvania and across from Secor Metropark.

“It’s been in the works for four or five years,” said the Rev. David Bayly, senior pastor.

The church will cost about $3.5 million to build and will be valued at about $7.5 million when done, church officials said.

Christ the Word, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America – a more conservative and smaller denomination than the Presbyterian Church (USA) – has been meeting since 2002 at Toledo First Seventh-day Adventist Church on West Sylvania Avenue. That church’s sanctuary was available on Sundays because Seventh-day Adventists hold their main services on Saturdays, which they consider to be the Sabbath day.

Mr. Bayly said Christ the Word was founded with about 100 people and attendance now averages about 400 on Sundays.

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