By WARREN DILLAWAY — NEW LYME TOWNSHP — More than 75 people braved 90-degree temperatures and limited parking to break ground for a new church, which is expected to rise from farmland at Route 6 and Peck Road.
Pentecostal Community Church leaders and New Lyme Township trustees turned symbolic shovelfuls of dirt in preparation for construction, which will include a lot of elbow grease on the part of parishioners, said pastor Scott Ardary.
Ardary said he worked as youth pastor for seven years in Parma and then came back to his roots in southern Ashtabula County, starting a church in the Orwell Fire Hall in January 2002. In May 2003, the church moved to a building adjacent to New Lyme Town Hall, which is leased from the township, Ardary said.
He said there are 116 church members, with Sunday attendance running at 80 to 90 people a week.
The 10,000-square-foot building, designed by Todd Kelly of Architectural Structural Associates, will include a sanctuary, all-purpose room and office space, Ardary said. He said the building will appraise at about $750,000 when completed but should cost less than to build because of parishioner sweat equity.
Ardary said Koval Construction will be helping to coordinate the project.
“We are doing 90 percent of the work ourselves,” he said.
The present building, owned by the township, will be gutted and rebuilt to create a youth center,” he said.
