‘We started with nobody, with nothing': Meridian church embarks on $20 million expansion

Yahoo

28-01-2025

Mark and Amy Boer have imagined expanding their church off Eagle Road in Meridian since they moved their congregation there in 2012.
The married pastors, who started the nondenominational Life Church in a hotel conference room in 2001, say their steadily growing community needs more room.
With full Sunday services now capped at roughly 800 people and hundreds more attending church groups, programs, and the affiliated ministry school, the Boers are planning a $20 million expansion that will bring the church auditorium's capacity to over 2,000.
The expansion 'has been a vision for a long time, for many years, since well before we needed it,' Mark Boer, senior pastor, told the Idaho Statesman. 'We started with nothing, with nobody ... Now, it makes a whole lot of sense.'
Life Church is one of several nondenominational faith communities that have grown in the Treasure Valley in recent years, as churchgoers nationally have made a shift away from traditional denominations.
According to plans filed with the city of Meridian, the Boers are planning to add 6.7 acres of vacant land to their existing campus at 3225 E. Commercial Court, which includes the church, Life Bible College, and a parking lot. The senior pastor said Life Church purchased the land, which sits to the east of the current site, from Jackson's Food Stores 'several years ago,' after seeing a for-sale sign when the congregation first moved in and then saving up.
The additional acres will be used to expand the existing church building — which was once a Coors warehouse — and provide additional parking.
Plans for the expanded church building include the new auditorium with raised, stadium-style seating, and additional office space and classrooms for church groups and use by the college. The Boers told the Statesman that Life Bible College is not expanding, but that its roughly 100 students will have access to the building and may use its classrooms for operations.
The existing building will still be used, mostly as 'a kids and youth area,' Mark Boer said, while the addition would house the new auditorium and 'adult services.' Both would be connected under one roof, so parents could more easily watch over their children, he said.
The addition will augment the building by 68,000 square feet, according to Life Church's website. The church also plans on adding parking spaces.
Mark Boer said the expanded building would allow the church community to continue to grow. 'We're at that point where we absolutely need it,' he said. 'But more than that, we believe we're supposed to do it.'
The expansion will be a 'big step of faith,' he said, and he doesn't know exactly how everything will come together.
For the development, the Boers are working with The Land Group, an Eagle engineering and architecture firm, and Churches By Daniels, an Oklahoma-based church construction company. It is estimated to cost $20.4 million, which would be funded through the church by donations, the pastors said. According to the church website, $8.6 million has been raised so far.
In a video on the website describing the expansion, Mark Boer said, 'Although this might seem like a big and expensive project, we believe it is easy for God. And because it is for his eternal kingdom, it will be worth every effort and every dollar spent.'
He also told the Statesman that the use of technology has also changed how churches including Life Church have been able to seek and receive donations. 'More and more, people give online these days,' he said, noting that people can text in an offering during church service.
'Our approach might not be the same as everyone,' he clarified. 'We don't want to do any arm-twisting ... We teach the principles of giving and receiving and generosity, all these things, but there's never going to be any pressure on anyone, and I think it works pretty well.'
The Boers say Life Church has grown through multiple iterations since it was first erected in 2001 after Mark, then working with Amy in a ministry in Twin Falls, said he had a vision directing him to found a new congregation.
Within the first year or so of operating from the hotel conference room in West Boise, the Boers said they had roughly one hundred people attending services. They then moved to a former Church of Christ building on Maple Grove Road before relocating to their Meridian site, where they now see roughly 800 individuals at each Sunday service.
The church has over 20 outreach projects within the Treasure Valley, such as visits to local jails and prisons, and has missions across the world.
Amy Boer noted that despite the large size of the church, it maintains an intimate feel through its 'Life Groups,' which focus on a range of topics including business, education, and even 'God and Gaming,' according to the church website.
The church is also nondenominational, which could allow it to resonate with a greater number of people.
'I think there was a day when it was helpful to be a denomination, and people would identify with that,' Amy Boer said, noting that some churches are removing traditional denominational titles from their names. 'I think most people now don't really care. I think most people are going to go where they feel like they fit.'
'There's certainly a segment (of churchgoers) that are not tied to an upbringing in a Nazarene or a Baptist, or something like that, that they like the idea that you're not that,' Mark Boer said. 'Even though we're not opposed to that.'
In recent years, churchgoers nationally have made shifts away from traditional denominations, with more Americans identifying as atheist, agnostic, or 'nothing in particular,' according to the Pew Research Center.
Some data suggests nondenominational churches may be growing despite this overall decline. According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, as of 2020, over 6% of Americans attended nondenominational and independent churches, representing over 12 million individuals at over 60,000 churches. In 2010, the number of nondenominational churches was roughly 35,000, according to the institute.
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, nondenominational churchgoers are the third-most common type of churchgoer in Idaho, after those who attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Church, as of 2020. Roughly 99,000 Idahoans attended nondenominational churches in 2020.
Inspirational Family Radio, a Boise media company that broadcasts two Christian radio stations, lists 74 nondenominational churches in the Valley.
The Boers said that Life Church's central location within the Valley, with its high visibility and proximity to the freeway, has been an important factor in growth.
The Meridian City Council unanimously approved Life Church's request for a rezoning of the 6.7 acres needed for the expansion from a light-industrial to a commercial designation on Oct. 22. The rezoning was a deviation from the city's Comprehensive Plan, requiring a plan amendment, which was also unanimously granted.
'I love that we have a growing community of faith in Meridian,' Council President Luke Cavener said at the public hearing, echoing fellow council members' support of the development.
Cavener noted that he's seen 'lots of churches choosing to grow in industrial areas' in the city, which he said could potentially pose a 'challenge' if industrial space were to become too limited.
The Boers told the Statesman that there was no intention to seek out industrial land specifically for the church or its addition. The land was available and vacant, they said.
With the council's blessing, the Boers said they are preparing the break ground, pending obtaining the necessary permits from the city, which they say could take a month or two. They estimate construction will take a year and a half, though they're not sure.
Despite having operated from four locations in the past two decades, this is the first time the Boers are building something entirely new.
'I've never, you know, put up a $20-something million building,' Mark Boer said with a laugh. 'But we're doing it, and we will be able to look back and tell you how. In the meantime, we're in the middle of it right now.'
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