New Church of the Resurrection Under Construction in Downtown Kansas City, Opening in Spring 2018

By Kevin Collison

Construction has begun on the foundation of the new, $6 million Church of the Resurrection on a parking lot once used by The Kansas City Star, a symbol of both the church’s rapid growth and the burgeoning downtown residential community it serves.

The 15,236 square-foot church will accommodate 440 worshipers and is scheduled to open in spring 2018. It’s located on the east side of Grand Boulevard between 16th and 17th streets.

The 1.2-acre property was sold by The Star which has shed numerous employees in recent years due to the declining fortunes of the newspaper industry.

The new facility will serve a rapidly growing congregation that’s increased from 187 adults when the Leawood-based Church of the Resurrection first started operating downtown in 2009 to serving more than 1,000 adults currently.

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to build a new church in the heart of this great city we’ve been part of for the past seven years,” said Downtown Campus Pastor Scott Chrostek.

“It has been exciting to be a part of a great growth story in downtown Kansas City as our community of faith has been growing up as quickly as the rest of downtown.”

Church of the Resurrection opened its first downtown facility in the former Crosstown Station music club at 1522 McGee St. in late 2011. At that point, the church had an average attendance of 675 adults. In June 2013, it opened a second location nearby at 1508 Grand with an average attendance of 800 adults.

Church officials say the new facility is expected to serve a downtown population that’s project to grow 42 percent over the next five years. Several thousand new apartments are in the downtown pipeline currently and the estimated current population in greater downtown is between 25,000- and 30,000.

(Illustration courtesy of Church of the Resurrection)

“As we have outgrown our two spaces on Grand and McGee, maxing out our capacity within worship spaces as well as our kid spaces, we have been looking for a way to continue our growth story in the heart of this city,” Chrostek said.

“We are so excited to begin this project because we love this neighborhood, we love our neighbors and we are thrilled because this new building project allows us to continue our purpose of building Christian community in the heart of this city for generations to come.”

A future expansion plan calls for the church to buy the south half of The Star property and build an additional 37,000 square-foot facility. Gould Evans is the architect and A.L. Huber is construction manager.

Worship times at the Church of the Resurrection: Saturdays, 5:10 p.m. at 1522 McGee; Sundays, 9 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 1522 McGee, and Sundays at 10:45 a.m. at 1508 Grand Blvd.

(Illustration courtesy of Church of the Resurrection)