“ We are very conscious of this in the design : How do we invite them in ? We feel that the church is supposed to be the light , so that ' s our focus .” — Isaac Oyedepo
Unconventional , sure … but just right Aside from the massive scope of the project , the decision to buy a space that wasn ’ t remotely designed for church use presented considerable architectural challenges . “ For one thing , I never liked having an auditorium where you would have to deal with pillars , so that was a huge challenge ,” he says . “ Yes , we had the size we wanted , but how would we get the pillars out ? That makes a huge difference .” Even so , the opportunities the space offered vastly outweighed any challenges — in particular , the property ’ s location . It ’ s less than five minutes from the current campus and offers maximum visibility . “ It puts us in the right in sight ,” Isaac points out . “ Getting that property , in the midst of that community , has given us access to another community .” For the building itself , Isaac had three main criteria , all of which the village mall property met in spades : that it deliver the space the church needs , has a modern design , and is adaptable to a quickturnaround project . “ Time was of the essence ,” he recalls . “ We thought it would take a minimum of five years to get the place and get all the approvals . With the way the church was growing , we didn ’ t have that time .” So , he knew that getting the right building partner onboard would be crucial . To start , Isaac traveled to other churches , in other states , to get an idea of what would work best . Word of Life in Flowood , MS ; LifeWay Church in Kingfisher , OK ; and The Assembly in West Monroe , LA all stood out for him . Interestingly , all three were designed and built by Churches by Daniels [
www . churchesbydaniels . com ] — a pleasant surprise for Isaac . “ Funny enough , nobody introduced us to Churches by Daniels ; they were never referred to us by anybody . We just went out searching ,” he recalls . “ We wanted something modern , we wanted something warm , and we wanted the excellence and skill that we saw in those churches .” Isaac reached out and interviewed Churches by Daniels Founder and CEO Charlie Daniels . When he discovered that Daniels built the home of Kenneth Hagin Ministries / Rhema in Broken Arrow , OK , as well as Victory Christian Center in Tulsa , OK , founded and led by Billy Joe Daugherty , his confidence was solidified . “ We knew they were the right people to do this ,” he says . “ We felt they would be able to not only help me design , but also catch the vision .”
In the end , a zoning and approvals process that would ordinarily take four or five years took months instead . Construction moved equally fast , including building “ a roof over a roof .” Daniels explains : “ We reached down from above and pulled the old roof to take all the columns out of the building .” In total , Phase 1 includes a 2,000-seat sanctuary , executive offices , children ’ s space , and a coffee shop in the lobby . Construction that would otherwise take about two years finished in just four months . And it was all done while working around existing leases on the property , as Isaac points out . “ Because many spaces are still occupied by commercial tenants , it made sense to take [ the project ] in phases instead of waiting for all tenants to be out .” Scheduled for completion in late summer or early fall , Winners Chapel will move into its new campus around the 30th anniversary of Isaac ’ s time with the church . Amazingly , the project will finish on time , debt-free and under budget . It will take only two years to complete , from locating the property , to renovating it , to opening the doors . It ’ s an especially impressive outcome considering that the approvals process alone might have taken twice as long under different circumstances . And , as Isaac points out , debt-free construction is a mandate for the church . Every project the church has done to date , across the world , was finished without debt . Finally , while finishing the project under budget is wonderful , Isaac says it ’ s not necessarily a surprise .
A big project lifts off With the property secured , a tight timeline , and the right building partner onboard , work began — and progressed — very quickly . The first item of business was securing permits and overcoming zoning restrictions . This was no easy feat , given the property ’ s close proximity to Washington , DC . “ Maryland presents some unique challenges in these aspects ,” Daniels explains . “ But [ the Winners Chapel team ] worked so great with our team on ground that it really helped in expediting the process .”
Isaac Oyedepo with Charlie Daniels CHURCH EXECUTIVE . COM | 9