The Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Ponte Vedra recently received 23 tons of steel to build its new sanctuary.
“We have been at this for about 20 years,” said Cindy Tanton, council president for the church. “It feels like a dream come true. Truly a prayer being answered.”
Tanton said there have been many hurdles to getting the church built, including black mold in the previous structure and recent hurricanes, which necessitated updates to the structure design.
“We’re just so excited we can get to this point where we can actually see that we’re going to be building a building,” Tanton said.
The steel will be used for the exterior walls and roof of the 3,700-square-foot space, and Tanton said the major part of the building process will likely be complete in summer 2018. She said if all goes well, they hope to be able to move in during fall 2018.
Tanton said the new structure is a “really big deal” because it’s currently hard to hold services out in the elements, and several members are unable to attend because of the lack of an air-conditioned or heated space.
She also said having a physical structure will allow the church to contribute to the community.
“We think it will allow us to do more of what we like to do, which is mission work in the community,” Tanton said. “We have a group of people who are very mission-oriented. It’s going to be able to help us expand our vision for helping the community in places where there are gaps.”
Located at 276 N. Roscoe Blvd., Lord of Life is the only Lutheran Church in the Ponte Vedra, Ponte Vedra Beach and Palm Valley area and is one of only two Lutheran Churches in St. Johns County, that are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which represents nearly 10,000 congregations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
