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This is a rendering of what the Woodstock Community Center will look like. The center is an effort of Woodstock Community Church. Source: Dayton Van Hulzen
Woodstock Community Church (WCC) has taken on a project to build a community center in Woodstock.
The Woodstock Community Center, as it will be called, will be located across the street from the church and include a gymnasium, library, commercial kitchen, game area, community room, classrooms, and more. The building is estimated to cost about $1.7 million.
The church started a fundraising campaign in March and has already raised about $1 million for the project from 96 families within the church. The next phase of the project is to continue to generate funds from within the church and seek donations from area businesses to help fund the rest of the project.
“We wanted to show the community, before we went to the businesses, before we go to anybody, we wanted to show them how serious we are about doing this,” said WCC Pastor Brian Dengler. “We’re not just talking about it. It’s not some broad idea. It’s going to become reality.”
The project came out of a vision team that was formed at the church in 2021. A vision to have a greater community impact coupled with prayer, and the fact that the church is outgrowing its existing facility brought them to the idea of a community center, not just for the church, but to serve the community of Woodstock and beyond.
“We want to build Kingdom, and what is going to glorify and build Kingdom more,” Dengler said. “It’s not us building a sanctuary right away. It’s not us building something on this building. It’s providing for the community at large, and that’s where the community center came in.”
The church will use the center for Sunday school classes, youth ministries and other church events and programs. It will also be available for home school families, exercise classes, gatherings, classes, community events, meetings and more. Dengler said it could be used by the Woodstock Community Club, New Life Treatment Center and other local organizations. He said the facility will be able to house 450 to 500 people.
The church considered building the community center on land it owns on Main Street, but the space was limited and landlocked. Dengler said the architect the church was working with suggested that the space across the street from the church would be a better location, but there was a house on part of it that had recently been purchased and was being remodeled. In 2023, he said, the owner of the property asked if the church wanted to buy it.
“It was truly a miracle,” Dengler said. “We knew God was kind of opening the door for that and the church almost unanimously went yes. In a quick Sunday vote, we bought the property.”
The purchase gave the church access to land right next door that touches the city park and will make the community center one of the first things people see when they enter Woodstock.
The church voted in 2024 to proceed with the project and a consultant was hired to help with a capital campaign and funding strategy. As part of that strategy, the church established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Community Development Corporation called Woodstock Community Outreach (WCO).
“We’re hoping in time that will lead to a bigger impact in the community as well,” Dengler said. “The start is the community center. We hope in time to do a lot more with that entity to help better our community.”
Dengler said the goal is to break ground on the community center sometime next year. He said that once the building is under construction, a WCO board comprised of church members and other community members will be formed to oversee the community center.
He said the church plans to cover all the day to day costs of the center, which are expected to total around $48,250 a year, by providing ongoing support as it would for a missionary. The ultimate goal of the project is to build community and serve the community.
“It’s using that to bless this community, to know that this church is for the community,” Dengler said. “More importantly, Jesus Christ is for them and we want to be His hands and feet.”
For more information about the project, visit woodstockarc.com and click on the Woodstock Community Center Project link.
This is a rendering of the what the gymnasium will look like. The center is estimated to cost $1.7 million and about $1 million has already been raised. Source: Dayton Van Hulzen
This is a rendering of the what the game area will look like at the Woodstock Community Center. The goal is to begin construction of the center next year. Source: Dayton Van Hulzen
This patch of land west of the Woodstock Community Church is the future site of the Woodstock Community Center. The church’s goal is to break ground on the project next year. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
This is a rendering of what the library will look like at the Woodstock Community Center. Source: Dayton Van Hulzen
This is a rendering of the what the kitchen will look like at the Woodstock Community Center. Source: Dayton Van Hulzen