Covenant UMC constructs new children’s building

Covenant United Methodist Church is still growing.

The church has constructed an 18,000-square-foot children’s building that will be the home for CovKids (birth through fifth graders) and the church’s preschool, Covenant Christian Academy, which is continuing to expand as well.

The new space allows the church to free up some of its other areas as well, helping to open up between 6,000-8,000 square feet for adult ministries and weekly discipleship programs. In addition, the church is now able to bring its library back into the main building after having it offsite for some time and to dedicate a special area as a prayer room as well. The area where the first through fifth graders previously met is now able to be administrative offices and classes for the older students.

“This was part of the expansion that we started in January, where we added an additional 300 seats in the sanctuary,” said Pastor Darren Hook. “Over the last few years, we began planning, and then we had a Sunday when we asked people to respond. Some gave one-time gifts, and some committed to giving gifts over a three-year period. We also have a building fund set up to pay the mortgage for it.”

The new building has opened up the possibilities for the preschool as well, which now has enrolled over 170 students and over 40 teachers. The expansion has added four new preschool classrooms, which will give the church the opportunity to serve more families in the community.

“Our executive pastor [Matt Yon] has gone above and beyond the call of duty in overseeing this project, as have all the people who have been working on it,” said Hook. “We want to make an impact for future generations and leave something for the people who come after us. We want to make a place for people moving to the Upstate to find a church home.”

Seven to eight years ago, the church was able to expand the space for adult ministries and also purchased three additional pieces of property next to the church in order to continue to grow. With the new children’s building, the church is hoping to attract more people from the community. Currently, there are over 2,000 professing members (not including children) at the church.

One special addition to the children’s building is the Bella Memorial Wall, dedicated to the memory of sixth grader, Bella Muntean, who passed away over a year ago from cancer. Bella had gone through confirmation at the church before contracting cancer.

“Bella had a tremendous love for God and people,” said Hook. “She had a long, hard journey with cancer, but her testimony was reaching kids and others to tell them about God’s love for them. We want fifth graders who are moving up into sixth grade to consider her testimony and what confirmation means, and we are hoping to see them give themselves to God as well.”

The Bella Memorial Wall is located on the second floor of the new building in The Well, a place where kids can gather and fellowship before heading into their classes. The wall has a picture of Bella and a continuously running video of her testimony.

Covenant UMC is located at 1310 Old Spartanburg Rd. in Greer.