Bluffton’s Church of the Cross plans expansion, new Jasper County location

Bluffton’s Church of the Cross is planning to expand and is considering buying land in Jasper County to build new facilities.

The church — which occupies one of Old Town’s most recognizable and photographed buildings, as well as the Cross Schools and worship center on Buckwalter Parkway — is rapidly approaching maximum capacity.

“Church (service) on Sunday is standing-room only,” Vicki Burris, Cross Schools’ director of development, said Wednesday.

Membership has increased from fewer than 1,100 to nearly 1,900 over the past decade, according to church documents.

Expansion at the Buckwalter facility will increase gymnasium and worship space by 200 percent, double parking capacity, and add classrooms and athletic fields, she said.

“We are thrilled,” Burris said. “Sundays will be a little less tight on space for church services, and the expansion will provide some great new opportunities for our students.”

During a series of meetings with church members last year, “immediate expansion of the worship space was labeled as a ‘no brainer,’ ” according to the findings of a recent study commissioned by the church.

More space could also mean more opportunities for Cross Schools, which has an enrollment of about 500 students and currently offers classes from preschool through eighth grade.

“There is a waiting list for some grades, and the need to add additional classrooms is evident and imperative if the schools are to continue growing,” the study said. “It has always been the plan to offer students an education through 12th grade.”

There is no specific timeline for when additional grades could be added.

The expansion project is expected to break ground in June.

“Hopefully they will get the shovels out just as the school year is ending,” Burris said, and if all goes as planned, the project will wrap up by late summer of 2018.

An ongoing capital fundraiser — described by Burris as a “joint venture between the church and the school” — hopes to raise $15 million.

Half of that total has already been raised, and Burris said church and school leaders “are very confident” they will achieve their goal.

Part of those funds will likely be used to purchase land in Jasper County, which could become the home to a new church and school.

“The Church of the Cross is not only looking for inward growth but outward as well,” the study said. “A new marine terminal in Jasper County is projected to bring in thousands of jobs and new families. The church desires to acquire land for future development in Jasper County while the land is still affordable.”

Burris said the identification of a specific plot in Jasper County “is still in the works.”

The church hasn’t “put an offer in on anything,” she said, but a purchase could be coming soon.

“The will is there, the money is there, and the plans are there,” she said.

This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Bluffton’s Church of the Cross plans expansion, new Jasper County location."