100,000 Mile Warranty now on all New Pontiacs and GMC Trucks! By Bruce C. SmithNOBLESVILLE -- Grace Community Church in Noblesville, one of Hamilton County's largest congregations, is growing again with a more than $23 million building expansion.

Construction started in June and recently became visible to the heavy traffic of motorists along 146th Street -- who can see large, circular wings rising on the east and west ends of the building.But that is just the beginning of several pieces of the project that will nearly double the size of the church, with new wings for eight youth auditoriums, a new sanctuary to seat at least 1,600 and other features.Grace Community has an estimated 7,500 members, and a total of 4,500 to 5,000 attend the six worship services scheduled each weekend.However, church leaders say the expansion isn't just to have a larger building but rather to help the church better serve the fast-growing community."This isn't really about the bricks and mortar. It is about service to the community and to provide a place for people to hear the message of Christ so they can experience that message in their lives," said John Jurgensen, pastor of administration.The theme of the construction project and fund-raising campaign is "creating space, changing lives, impacting the world."At least $2 million raised in the capital campaign has been used to help other churches locally, in Indiana and around the world.One of those missions involved a 2005 trip by church members to Nairobi, Kenya, to plant the seeds of several Christian churches."That's what we mean when we say that this project isn't just about expanding the building, but it is also about impacting the lives of people," Jurgensen said.Nathan Mowery, chairman of the church's governing board, said, "We felt God's call to expand the church. But it's not just for the sake of expansion that we are building onto the church, but rather to help more people into God's kingdom."Grace Community was founded in 1991 by members of Faith Missionary Church. They set up a church in a warehouse near Greyhound Pass and U.S. 31.In 1997, they moved to a new facility at 5504 E. 146th St., a 52-acre site with plenty of room to expand the 120,000-square-foot building.When church leaders began to list the possible additions to the building, the cost estimate was near $30 million for at least four phases of construction.That price tag seemed a little daunting, Jurgensen said. So the project was scaled back and scheduled in phases as money could be raised without long-term loans or debt.About $23.6 million has been raised in cash and pledges for the current work, which totals 112,000 square feet added in several sections to the east, west and south sides of the existing building.The addition was designed by architect Kevin Callahan, a church member.General contractor Shiel Sexton Co. has erected the two-story concrete, circular structures on the east and west sides of the front of the building. Those wings, to be divided into four semicircular rooms for youth classes, will feature light from translucent glass panels in the walls and skylight.Construction is also expanding areas on the sides of the current building with more worship space and canopy-covered drive-up entrances.And when steel is available, construction crews will begin putting up a new sanctuary and expansion of the central entrance.The new sanctuary will have permanent and moveable seating for about 1,600, compared with the current 1,100.That new sanctuary and auditorium will be a large addition onto the front of the present building.Its contemporary office-style architecture will change to a slightly more "churchly" appearance, though it still will have a modern look.Future construction will include a smaller, chapel-sized auditorium that Jurgensen said will have a more traditional, European church design and likely will be popular for weddings and similar events.Outside the building, construction crews have been expanding and reconfiguring the parking lot and adding a pond for storm water control.

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