SALISBURY, Md. -- LiFT Church will be moving into what used to be the Gander Mountain store in Salisbury. For the past 3 and a half years, LiFT was hosting Sunday services out of the Regal Theater at The Centre at Salisbury. While their partnership with Regal was great, Pastor Drew Freyder says it was also a lot of hard work.
"We do have to show up at six in the morning with over 50 volunteers to turn a theater into a church," said Pastor Freyder. "Then we hold two experiences, pack it up and get out by 12 so that they can have their theater back."
All of the hard work on Sunday mornings is part of the reason LiFT decided to move, and they have big plans for their new location. It will include a 500-seat auditorium, a coffee shop, and a video studio.
However, Pastor Freyder's favorite addition to the new church is the sensory deprivation room for children with special needs. It makes sense, considering LiFT does a lot more than host services on Sundays.
"We partner with youth development and we also have programs for opioids and drug addictions and things like that, so this is going to be a hub to lift the city, not just on a Sunday, but all throughout the week," said Pastor Freyder.
People at Harley-Davidson, which moved into a portion of the Gander Mountain building about three years ago, are happy to have a next door neighbor.
"We look forward to having the church and Robinson's come in, because it's going to provide additional foot traffic here, more people means more business, and a rising tide lifts all boats," said Mike Cottingham.
Cottingham is the president for Rommel Chesapeake, and said it will be nice to have that area of Route 13 get revitalized. Bill Chambers, president of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, shares in that optimism.
"Having a large church there with a huge congregation is going to help all the businesses around it, and for that reason, we're pleased they're going to repurpose the space," said Chambers.
Pastor Freyder says he hopes the church will be up and running by late January of 2023. He's also excited to have access to his church seven days a week, instead of a couple hours on Sunday mornings.