Nondescript church ready for a face-lift

Stephanie Sortijas

COSTA MESA -- Most people may not have noticed, but parishioners of

Presbyterian Church of the Covenant have congregated at the same Fairview

Road location since 1962.

However, Pastor Tim McCalmont says that for a change, the church itself

has received the most attention lately.

The church recently kicked off a renovation project, erecting a sign that

reads “We’re building a church to welcome you -- programs and worship

ongoing during construction” in front of the building.

“In the past two months, we’ve had a lot of people come in to say that

they’ve driven by before and they never even knew we were a church,” said

McCalmont, who has headed the parish for more than five years.

He hopes the church’s current $800,000 renovation project -- which will

add a more visible main entrance, a revamped sanctuary and more natural

light to the worship spaces -- will change all that.

“The renovations are all about helping to improve our presence in the

community,” he said.

More than two years ago, the church had commissioned the San Diego-based

architectural firm Lew Dominy and Associates for the renovation, a

company also responsible for designing the Irvine Presbyterian Church and

several other places of worship in Orange County.

The church’s 360 members, who had pledged money to fund the project’s

completion, were called upon to add their creative input to the

building’s new design.

“We really wanted this to be something that came from our people,” said

McCalmont. “I think it will have an appeal that is both traditional and

contemporary. We have a real spread of ages here with various ideas of

what church is supposed to be, and in our design, we try to incorporate

all that.”

Longtime parishioner Sonja Gray said the church improvements, scheduled

to be completed in late March or early April, are long overdue.

“It’s going to be wonderful,” said Gray, a Lido Isle resident who has

been attending services at the church for 20 years.

“Right now, the building is just very plain. The cross and the sign out

front are small -- nothing jumps out at you,” she added. “This is a

wonderful and warm congregation, and soon we will have a church that will

show that and hopefully be more inviting to the community.”

FYI

Presbyterian Church of the Covenant is at 2850 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Call (714) 557-3340 for more information.