Ready for the future: Trinity UMC gets an award-winning expansion

Trinity UMC gets an award-winning expansion

Trinity United Methodist Church has come a long way since its first building on Oxmoor Road was erected in 1928.

The church has had new buildings and renovations in the past century, and in March 2020, the church completed a $14 million project, just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic to force the church to close its doors and later reopen in limited capacity. Up until recently, church members had to register online to attend in-person services.

Then in June, the church reopened to pre-pandemic capacity, and the church members are now able to enjoy the new additions.

The idea for the project started in 2017 when the church had water damage in the children’s classrooms that could no longer be ignored, said Laura Ellis, executive director of the church. The church had a water study done, and it was predicted that the church needed about $1.5 million done in repairs. This wouldn’t include any new spaces or renovations for the church, though.

“At the same time, we were outgrowing Wesley Hall [the contemporary worship space], and we were outgrowing our children’s classrooms,” she said. “So we thought, it’s now or never.”

The leadership team identified the church’s main needs and was able to find solutions for almost all of them. Parking continues to be a problem for the church, though, according to Mark Limbaugh.

The expansion consisted of 70,000 square feet of interior renovations of the existing building. Also in the expansion was a new welcome center entrance and a new two-story, 15,000-square-foot infill building. The infill building ties together the original 1928 building and the 1949 Wesley Hall building.

The project also was recognized by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama’s Excellence in Construction Awards as the first-place winner for renovations. Williams Blackstock Architects were the architects on the project.

Welcome Center

Before the construction of the new welcome center, the church had eight entrances, and none of them felt like a “main” entrance.

“We wanted to have a space that would funnel everyone into the church in a way that would facilitate their movement to where they needed to end up,” Ellis said.

The new welcome center is near the church’s parking lot and has wheelchair accessible pathways. It has a keycode entry, and Ellis said the church’s goal is to have all keypad entrances.

When a visitor walks into the welcome center, they will be greeted by a member of the church’s hospitality team, and that person will help the visitor find where they need to go.

The Neighborhood

Past the welcome center is The Neighborhood, which has classrooms for children up to fifth grade. At the entrance is a set of iPads for parents to check in their children and print out a name tag. After the children are checked in, they enter a secured space.

“The idea is that every space for the kids is secured behind a keyed door,” she said. “Once they check in, they go through one of the keyed entrances, and they are secured. So if you’re a visitor, you know other people aren’t just wandering around the church off the street and coming into the kids’ areas.”

The space has colorful wall decals that feature Birmingham-specific elements, such as a mural of the famous Hollywood sign reimagined with letters that instead spell Birmingham. There are “street signs” that identify each room and its intended age group. The rooms are outfitted with age-appropriate pieces of furniture. For example, the chairs and tables in the fifth grade classrooms sit much higher than the same in the first grade classroom.

One of the classrooms is the sensory room. It has swings hanging from the ceiling, sensory games along the wall and a colorful water lamp.

“We had a couple of kids who we knew we weren’t serving as well as we could, so a ministry has grown out of that to make sure we’re open and welcoming to all kids,” said Eleanor Christianson, director of the children’s ministry. “So when this renovation got underway, it was an opportunity for us to dedicate a wonderful space that really thinks about what would be awesome if we could dream a big dream.”

Contemporary worship space

There was one question the church asked itself during the renovation process, Ellis said: Where will people want to gather before or after the church service? Where will people want to fellowship with one another?

A new coffee bar outside of the contemporary space is the answer to that question. The ceiling was opened up so that people leaving their small group classes on the third floor could look down and see those who were at the coffee bar.

As members walk into the contemporary worship space, they first walk through a room that functions as a lobby. This room was built in the 1940s as a sanctuary. A new room, called The Nave, was added on to this space to be the main worship room for the contemporary service. Now the former sanctuary space can be used for overflow space. There is also a children’s nook with activities and rocking chairs.

The Nave was built on a former courtyard, and one of its walls connects to the original 1920s building. It was built on the last piece of physical property that could be used by the church to add to its footprint, Ellis said.

Other features

The traditional worship space also saw some upgrades in the renovation. The space’s lobby was renovated with new flooring and a space for people to gather before the start of each service.

Three rows of pews were removed from the back of the traditional space to create a “comfort room” for mothers. It’s glassed in and has darker lighting, so when the lights are on in the traditional space, those on the inside can’t easily be seen by those on the outside.

“During the service, if you’ve got a child who’s loud or if you’d like to nurse, then you can stay in this room,” Ellis said. “Any Sunday might have three or four families hanging out here from time to time.”

The renovation also includes a cohesive office space near the welcome center and expanded classrooms for adults.

Reopening to full capacity

After more than a year of working with pandemic guidelines during church service, Trinity was able to return to normal capacity for its services in June and no longer requires members to register for services. Now members will be able to enjoy all the aspects of the new spaces, and Ellis said she hopes these additions are enjoyed for years to come.

“The main thing is we wanted to open as many doors as possible while also making our doors as accessible and welcoming as possible,” she said. “We want to make sure that we’re paving the way for future generations to come, so that we’ve got space for the kids and space where you want to worship. We want to maintain the beauty of our traditional sanctuary but also update our spaces around it to make everyone feel a little better about it.”

When the church was at its pre-pandemic peak, a typical Sunday would host 1,200-1,400 people, Ellis said. Now the church serves even more people.

“We’ve had people join online in the last year who are never going to live in Birmingham,” she said. “They just want to be a part of our church.”

The next step will be building out the church’s digital campus, she said.

Trinity United Methodist Church is located at 1400 Oxmoor Road. For more information, visit trinitybirmingham.com.