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For faith communities in Lakewood Ranch, the explosive population growth of the past 30 years has created its own set of blessings.
Two of the larger congregations in the area say their services are full to overflowing most of the year. While that creates challenges, they have managed to work out their time and space concerns.
Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church on State Road 70 celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.
The church was created in 1999 by parishioners living east of I-75 but who were attending Our Lady Queen of Martyrs church in Sarasota. After getting approval from the bishop, the group’s first service was held in a borrowed space, at Living Lord Lutheran Church.
Eighty people attended, including Jack Millhalland, who’s now a deacon at Our Lady of the Angels. “And then there was all the development out here,” he said. “So like that, you know, I would say, (the parish) just doubled and doubled.”
“Those people who understood what Lakewood Ranch was, the development, knew that this was going to take off.”
Today, Millhalland and the parish’s pastor, Fr. Sebastian Szczawinski, say in season, the parish will see 4,000 people on a typical Sunday. This past Easter, 10,000 people attended services.
That can make it tough to connect with newcomers, Millhalland said. “There's so many new faces, and you get to see them only for that short period of time before mass,” he said.
With 3,400 families attending regularly, classroom and meeting space for the parish’s various groups is also at a premium.
”For us, that's a challenge, and because we have more groups that would like to come and meet, and we need to limit that,” said Szczawinski. “We need to say ‘sorry, but the place is not available,’ and it's awful.”
The parish, which just built a new sanctuary building six years ago, is expanding again, with a new 13,000 square-foot building for classrooms and meeting space.
“We have so many young people here and so many groups. And they need space,” Szczawinski said. “It is a challenge for us and a blessing, obviously. So that's why we decided to resolve this problem and to build a new building.”
One exit to the south, Grace Community Church sits at the intersection of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Communications Parkway.
A modern megachurch, Grace also had humble beginnings in 2010 at the site of a former Baptist church in Sarasota.
After three years, Grace opened a second campus, near its current location. “We rented, I'm going to say at the time, maybe 6,000 square feet,” recalled Lead Pastor Chip Bennett.
The initial turnout was bigger than expected. “I think we opened up that first Sunday with like, 150 or 200 people. I was shocked,” Bennett said.
“It was the first time that I actually said, whoa. I mean, we actually could have a little bit larger church than what maybe I thought,’' he said. “The church just continued to grow.”
Instead of trying to expand the existing space, they saw the property at Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Communications Parkway. They raised the money and paid cash for it, he said. They opened their current building in 2021.
Bennett stood in the main auditorium that seats 900, pointing out the large LED screen on the stage and the multiple cameras that feed Sunday services to social media platforms, as well as an overflow room that seats 300 additional people when the auditorium is full. And it happens a lot, Bennett said.
Grace also averages about 4,000 worshippers during its four Sunday services in season, but off season is not far behind. They saw an estimated 8,600 people at Easter and set a non-holiday attendance record of more than 3,600 on a recent Sunday.
As big as Grace seems to be, it is also planning to expand. “We are in the process of building a Student Center, which will be 14,000 square feet,” Bennett said, to house three gyms that community leagues will be able to use for free, as well as more worship space.
Grace also owns three of the four pieces of property at its intersection. “We need a building twice as big, but we don't have it.” The church is also planning to add a balcony in the main auditorium for even more seating.
Neither congregation sees growth in Lakewood Ranch slowing down. “All you have to do is travel back here and see all the apartment buildings and villas and townhomes that are being built,” said Deacon Millhalland. “It's just amazing all the new families coming in. And you know, they're looking for a place to worship, and they're looking for a place beyond just worship, they want to be engaged.”
The speed of the area’s growth puts pressure on faith communities trying to keep pace, Bennett said. “I think that the overwhelming growth in this area has challenged all of us who need to build or need to do something quickly.”
It’s a learning process. “Just the challenges of growth, I mean, unless you've done it before, and most of us haven't. We don't have a manual of how you go from, you know, 200 people to 8,000 on Easter,” Bennett said.
Our Lady of the Angels aims to be a place where people can find connection. ”I still see it as a strong, vibrant community,” Millhalland said. “This is going to still be a magnet to draw people to worship and to build community with.”
Szczawinski agreed. “People would say often that they feel like they love this church, this place, because they feel welcomed here. Many people would treat it as their home, like one big family.
“They still come to Mass here and to worship and to and to get involved in the different community programs that we offer here. They find their niche. And they want to have that camaraderie with other people.”
