RT. REV. ANTHONY“ TONY” BURTON / FORMER RECTOR / CHURCH OF THE INCARNATION / DALLAS, TX
ARCHITECTURE
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
By 2015, Church of the Incarnation needed more space on its historic Dallas campus. That was clear.
Yet, when this demand was answered— with the completion of 60,000 square feet of added ministry space— the new spaces didn’ t look“ added on.” In fact, some people( me included) would’ ve guessed they’ d always been there.
This cohesion is very intentional.
Serving as COTI’ s rector from 2008 until his retirement in 2022( and overseeing the expansion project somewhere in the middle), the experience offered Rt. Rev. Anthony“ Tony” Burton a vital lesson: how to plan for growth while honoring what the congregation already loves.
Lack of space for vital ministries is a familiar problem among growing churches— and Church of the Incarnation( COTI) in Dallas is no exception. For this nearly 150-year-old church, however, the question of how to make room for ministry was complicated by its long history in the community. Read: the design would need to accommodate growth without erasing COTI’ s history, architecture, and the identity that helped shape the congregation in the first place. As former rector Bishop Burton and his cohorts on various building committees found out, the right path forward was indeed to expand— but not to start over.
Bigger footprint, same identity In the years leading up to 2015( and still today), COTI experienced significant growth in both its traditional and contemporary worship ministry, along with increasing need for expanded children’ s education and gathering spaces. At the same time, the existing church— dedicated in 1954— remained an important architectural and spiritual anchor for the congregation. Completed in 2015 and spanning 60,000 square feet, the solution was to add a new, dedicated contemporary worship space( the Ascension Chapel) along with a three-story education building, a welcome center,
10 CHURCH EXECUTIVE | JULY / AUGUST 2026