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The Southlake City Council approved zoning changes and renovation plans for St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church at its Sept. 15 meeting, allowing the church to build an addition that will expand the lobby and add seating.
“When I started here about 5 years ago, there were about 60 people showing up on a Sunday,” the Rev. Alan Bentrup said. “Today we have about 160.”
The details
The current building seats around 175, but the renovations will expand its capacity to 250.
“It is a building that was hand-built by parishioners on Sunday afternoons, 40-some years ago,” Bentrup said. “As you can imagine, that probably necessitates some changes, but also we're growing, technology has changed, the needs of the people have changed.”
The church building will be completely gutted and rebuilt to increase accessibility and hospitality, Bentrup said.
One of the main new additions is a welcome center on the side of the property that faces Pearson Lane, which will include an area to get coffee, accessible restrooms and a meeting room. The other side of the church will be expanded by about 10 feet by pushing back a wall.
The outside of the church will receive aesthetic improvements like a bell tower and covered walkway that are intended to make the building look more traditionally like a church.
Currently the church has a hard-to-reach choir loft which will be replaced by an expanded choir area at the front of the building. The altar area is also being made accessible as it is currently difficult to reach by people who use wheelchairs or have mobility issues.
Acoustics were not considered when the church was first built so the renovations also include a new organ and work with acoustical engineers to make sure everyone is able to hear the worship and speakers.
The timeline
Exterior construction is expected to start this fall and renovations on the interior will begin after Easter. Bentrup said work on the interior will hopefully be completed by Labor Day but that they will certainly be back in the church by Christmas 2027.
The renovations are expected to cost around $4 million and Bentrup said the church’s ongoing fundraising campaign will allow them to complete the work with very minimal loans, if any.
“We don't want this to be something that burdens us from the mission and ministry we want to do in the future,” Bentrup said.
223 S. Pearson Lane, Southlake
