JOHN MEADOR / PASTOR / CROSS CITY CHURCH / EULESS , TX
Better design builds better connections
With its Generations Project , Cross City Church is preparing its facilities to reach people for years to come .
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
The Generations Project at Cross City Church isn ’ t Pastor John Meador ’ s first major building initiative . It is , however , his favorite .
“ I ’ ve built several church complexes , but I ’ ve never built one where I look back and think , I wouldn ’ t change a thing ,” he says . “ I ’ m at that place , now .”
So , what makes this project so special ? For one thing , it ’ s ambitious : a $ 20-million reimagining of the entire campus . The church needs almost 65,000 square feet of space , but it has also demolished two buildings , which sacrificed 50,000 square feet of existing space . It certainly isn ’ t the simplest approach , but it is the right one for Cross City . Moreover , its name — The Generations Project — lays a succinct , relevant foundation . The design team is guided principally by three words : faith , family and future . Meador explains the significance behind these words . “ We knew it was going to take a lot of faith . We knew it needed to be family-friendly . We knew it needed to bridge into a new generation .” That last part is especially important since the most recent buildings on the campus were already 20 years old when the project began . “[ Our campus ] was piecemeal ,” he adds . “ There were all kinds of nooks , crannies and hallways , and nobody knew how to get anywhere .” At one point , he and his team took out a stopwatch to see how long it took churchgoers to enter the facility , drop off kids of various ages , and finally arrive at their small groups or for worship . For newcomers , this could take up to 25 minutes and involved going up and down several flights of stairs .
“ It just wasn ’ t working for us ” Additionally ( and unavoidably ), the community around Cross City has completely changed in the past 20 years — socioeconomically and in terms of diversity — in ways that didn ’ t mesh with the church ’ s image .
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