himself attended GARY a different BOYD church / the PASTOR time, he was / COLLINSVILLE confirmed as an BAPTIST TABERNACLE / COLLINSVILLE, OK Episcopalian in college and started attending St. David’ s. In 2011, he and his wife moved back to Denton from Washington, DC, where he attended law school. Along with his own family this time, Davis also came home to St. David’ s. Within a few years, he was asked to serve on the vestry team, or church board. By 2016, Davis was a senior warden. Around this time, Davis and his fellow vestry members were heeding the need for expanded worship space. The“ 80-percent rule” was evident— that is, the parking lot and sanctuary looked so full most Sundays that newcomers went away, thinking there was no room for them.“ Three or four times, we went through cycles of growth that caused us to bump up against our capacity,” Davis explains.“ Maybe it was population growth in our city, or a bunch of babies were born, bringing an influx of young families. Maybe a new crop of professors moved into the neighborhood.” All this, coupled with too many Christmas and Easter services adding folding chairs in the foyer and parish hall, were clear indicators it was time to expand.“ I distinctly remember a number of high holy days where people watched church on a TV in the parish hall,” Davis recalls.“ They deserved a spot in the nave of the church, in the main worship space.” Indeed, the original 149-person-capacity church— built in 1955— just wasn’ t cutting it anymore.“ At least that’ s the number we gave brides and wedding planners,” Davis laughs.“ But it included almost everybody in the altar party. We were probably even counting the chair the priest sits in, plus every seat in the choir pews.”
From questions to clarity In 2016— the same year he became a senior warden at St. David’ s— Davis was appointed chair of the building committee. The group had a lot of initial questions: Can we expand on our current parcel of land? Should we be thinking about building somewhere else? Given the size of the church, can we financially support a building project— or should we be looking at vacant( or soon-to-be vacant) church properties?“ We knew we needed to enlist more knowledgeable people than just ourselves,” Davis explains.“ And in the church world, as you know, we don’ t reinvent the wheel; we call around and ask who’ s had a good experience or outcome with whatever situation you’ re facing.” As they did their due diligence, a large, prosperous Episcopal church in nearby Dallas— which had recently finished an extensive building project— recommended HH Architects.“ We liked what they’ d done with [ Church of the ] Incarnation,” Davis explains.“ And we heard nothing but good things from them about the relationship and the process.” As a next step, the St. David’ s building committee‘ passed the hat’ to fund the hiring of HH Architects for a feasibility study. Based on those findings, the committee decided to build at their current location— but build what? For one thing, it would need to house about 350 seats— three times as many as the church’ s current sanctuary capacity. That kind of building would occupy more than 13,000 square feet, including a 2,700-squarefoot nave. Most important, it needed to be designed by someone who really‘ knows’ churches.“ We certainly didn’ t have to stick with HH Architects after our feasibility study— but we did,” Davis recalls.“ At the time, the firm that built our original church was still in business down the street here in Denton. But we liked what HH had in their portfolio.”
Tradition guides design decisions Now, St. David’ s new church building is part of that impressive portfolio— in large part, no doubt, because the building committee stuck to their vision and hired that church architecture firm they liked so much.
Davis explains:“ If I’ m the CEO of a bank that needs a new space, I’ m thinking about what security looks like and where I’ ll put on my bankers. The style will be up to my board of directors and me. I’ m probably thinking: It’ s a bank— what else is it going to look like but a bank?” In contrast, he points out, liturgical presence mattered a lot for the design of the new building at St. David’ s.“ It’ s especially important when the focus of the worship is on the bread and the wine, the body and blood of Christ that are there, really present, in the room with you,” Davis explains.“ It’ s important that we give everyone the opportunity to take part— especially folks who, if they used a wheelchair, in our old space couldn’ t go to the altar rail and receive communion in the same way that able-bodied people could.” Even so, this original space— now called Christ the King Chapel, or the Historic Chapel— is beloved by many members of the church family.“ We heard over and over again:‘ Can’ t we just have the same thing but bigger?’” Davis recalls.“ After all, that’ s where they got married, where their children were baptized. We have a columbarium there; it’ s where they still visit their loved ones. We knew the architectural vocabulary of the new church had to come from the old church.” Although those church members probably didn’ t know it then, they were asking for a traditional English church. It meant Gothic pointed arches. Stonework on the exterior. A choir between the chancel and the altar rail with pews that face each other. An altar placed a little further back and elevated just a bit so people in the last pews can see what’ s meant to be the liturgical focus. Three steps up to the altar, because St. David’ s is, importantly, a Trinitarian church. A lectern and pulpit placed separate and apart, with the lectern featuring a carved wooden eagle.“ Even down to the brick colors, everything is a reflection of congregational memory shaping the architecture,” Davis points out.“ Within budget constraints and with modern building methods and
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