St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s approximately $5 million building project in downtown Waco is nearing completion. It’s a project that has the congregation of the 1879-vintage house of worship taking a hard look at its future.

Planning for the venture began in 2004. St. Paul’s now has:

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is undergoing a $5 million building and renovation project.
Jerry Larson/ / Waco Tribune-Herald

*  A stylized elevator and walkway tower;

*  A new chapel on the back side of the church with a vaulted ceiling and clear glass windows that give it a feeling of openness;

*  A rediscovered and refurbished Great Hall;

*  A new heating and air-conditioning system; and,

*  An area for children.

The congregation worshipped in the Parish Hall while crews remodeled the nave, which is the central approach to the altar around which members receive communion.

Members returned to the nave — passing stained-glass images of Jesus Christ in various stages of his ministry — to find new paint, refinished pine floors, new carpet and a blue ceiling over the altar that looks like a star-filled sky.

Building chairman John Mayfield said the new chapel will serve as a multipurpose room to host meetings and small weddings. It provided overflow space on Easter Sunday, with those in attendance able to hear but not see the service.

The church may install closed-circuit televisions to accommodate crowds in the future.

St. Paul’s, whose campus is located between Fifth and Sixth streets on Columbus Avenue, has 1,060 members. About 350 people typically attend services on Sundays. The congregation is growing slowly but steadily.

The church and the adjacent St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School have evolved into a merging of old and new.

Ancient wooden doors, so heavy they require a stout push, lead to recent additions brimming with potential. Nooks and crannies and former offices have become space for young people and new restrooms.

Crews took great care to find metal roofing that would mesh with building coverings that have the appearance of stone. And they were able to disguise a sprinkler system that was installed in the Great Hall.

“I think this expansion is the culmination of a long dream and the faithfulness of this congregation,” pastor Chuck Treadwell said. “We want to be more receptive to new people and welcoming to new families.”

Treadwell said the church took an unusual approach to the project. About a decade ago, he said, a benefactor left a gift of $1.2 million to the church and wanted it used to build a chapel.

That gift sparked others, as well as a fundraising campaign. There also was some soul-searching about the kind of church God would want St. Paul’s to become.

“For a time, people would visit our church and ask if we had an area for young children. We would say ‘yes,’ then take the youngsters to the basement, which was kind of like a dungeon,” Treadwell said. “So we moved our offices off-campus and turned that area into space for ‘early childhood,’ which included a clean, beautiful and accessible nursery where parents could easily take their children.

“We became more hospitable.”

A rear look at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where additions and renovations have created a courtyard setting. St. Paul’s conducted its first service at its Columbus Avenue location in 1879.
Jerry Larson / Waco Tribune-Herald

With construction winding down to the “sweeping-up” stage, Treadwell said, the church has undertaken more outreach ministries to attract people residing close to St. Paul’s.

“I think this is monumental, the beginning of the next chapter of this historic church,” senior warden John Deaver said. “Not just because of the opportunities it affords, but because it is the product of work by so many people.”

Deaver said it was inspiring to see workers strip away walls and a drop-ceiling to reveal a Great Hall that had been hidden for many years. It has become a jewel of the church.

“Everyone who has entered the Great Hall has been completely overwhelmed by the wooden ceiling and artistic framing original to the century-old building,” Mayfield said.

He said groups are asking to use it for various church-related functions.

Treadwell said the renovation proves that St. Paul’s is committed to downtown for the long haul — and that the Episcopal church is alive and well in Waco.

mcopeland@wacotrib.com

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