CAPE CORAL, Fla., (WordNews.org) March 15, 2012 –A church in Cape Coral, Florida, is responding to the city’s dire economic situation by shifting its focus from building a $15 million worship auditorium to building a 100,000-square-foot park.

Cape Coral is among the top cities in the country for foreclosure and unemployment. Cape Christian Fellowship said after assessing how loss of jobs and homes was impacting families, the church decided to launch a non-traditional church campaign to build Fellowship Park. Open to the public, Fellowship Park will include the city’s first amphitheater, a splash pad, four children’s playgrounds, sports and multi-purpose fields, common areas, a zip line, a jogging trail, a pavilion and a café. It will be funded, built and maintained by the church. In addition, Cape Christian Fellowship is launching a community-wide campaign, “Not in My City,” providing comprehensive resources to families facing hunger, homelessness and poverty.
“We were alarmed to learn that 350 children are homeless in our city. Assessing the community’s needs was sobering and led us to turn our attention outside the walls of our church,” says Cape Christian Fellowship’s Lead Pastor Wes Furlong. “Even though we’ve outgrown our current facility, we have canceled our plans for a new worship center. Instead, we are building a park where families can gather, play or attend concerts and community events. We’re also providing resources to help families who’ve lost homes or jobs. We are a church that exists for our city.”
Cape Christian Fellowship is the largest Mennonite church in the country. It has doubled its attendance over the past five years and created more than 20 ministries for the city, including a mentoring program for young mothers and a state-approved character curriculum in public schools. It’s “Feeding Cape Coral,” program stocks food pantries with more than 25,000 items. In addition, the church is recruiting volunteers with the goal of logging one-million volunteer hours within public schools. Cape Christian Fellowship also plans to launch the Center for Family Life to create and multi-media resources for parents, married couples, and people with addictions and other life-controlling issues.