Recognizing that cities are changed at home, Cape Christian Fellowship announces plans to replace a proposed 1,700-seat auditorium with new plans to build Fellowship Park, a community park for the city of Cape Coral.

The park, to be located at 2110 Chiquita Blvd. S. in Cape Coral adjacent to Cape Christian Fellowship, will be open for public use and will be funded, maintained, owned and operated by the church.

The church has doubled its membership over the past five years and rather than pursue a traditional church building campaign, Cape Christian Fellowship is engaging its congregation to raise approximately $300,000 to fund a more than 100,000-square-foot park that will include the city’s first amphitheater, a splash pad, multiple children’s playgrounds, sports and multi-purpose fields, common areas, a zip line, a jogging trail, a covered pavilion and covered seating with a caf. The church is seeking private funding sources to raise an additional $500,000 to fund the amphitheater, restroom and sports fields.

“Our church leaders have spent the past year meeting with local city officials, the police department, local schools, and health officials to review the real needs of the community and found that the issues facing our residents are very complex. Issues such as hunger, violence, drug abuse and poverty are ones that need to be addressed,” said Cape Christian Fellowship Executive Pastor Brett Furlong. “Given the growth of our congregation, consultants recommend we build a high-tech, multi-million dollar worship center. However, by building a park for the community, we are demonstrating that the needs outside the walls of our church are just as important as the needs inside. We are a church that exists for our city.”

The church-owned property includes a parking lot with more than 700 parking spaces, restroom facilities and lighting for evening events and activities such as Taste of the Cape, Jazz on the Green, concerts and school assemblies.

“We have met with Cape Christian’s leadership and are moving forward with the permitting and approval process for Fellowship Park,” said interim City Manager and Director of Parks and Recreation Steve Pohlman. “This park would provide a venue with ample parking, lighting and other amenities that do not currently exist in the City of Cape Coral. No city tax dollars will be used for this park, and we consider it a generous and much-needed gift to our city.”

Fellowship Park is part of a larger expansion campaign currently in progress at the church. The second phase of this campaign includes the church’s involvement in local schools. Currently Cape Christian provides mentoring, state approved character curriculum, and an accompanying high-energy assembly production once a month at Skyline Elementary School. Their goal is to see other churches take up this cause and spread these programs to all schools in Lee County.

The final phase of the campaign involves launching the Center for Family Life to provide resources to the community supporting parents, married couples, and people with addictions and other life controlling issues. Cape Christian Fellowship will hire additional pastors, Christian psychologists and launch a media company to produce print, online and video materials for the community.

Cape Christian is at 2110 Chiquita Blvd. S. in Cape Coral. The 25-year-old church is home to more than 1,400 members and guests who attend their contemporary worship services each weekend. For more information, visit www.capechristian.com or call 239-772-5683.

Source: Cape Christian Fellowship