Church wins building approval

The Fellowship at Bend church received planning commission approval Thursday night for a renovation of 6,700 square feet of the old Weitech building on the corner of Larch Street and Barclay Avenue.

The Fellowship will have their first meeting in the new facility June 10.

Lead Pastor Loren Anderson said, "We are excited to be able to be a part of the (Sisters) community. We are thrilled to be able to use that building; it is a lot easier than going in and out of schools."

The Fellowship started in Bend in 2004, and has grown to about 500 members. They have been meeting in a number of school buildings throughout the city and currently meet at Morning Star Christian School, south of Bend. About 35 members from Sisters are making that commute.

"One church, two locations," said Anderson.

He expects that the local "campus" may draw 50 to 100 people from Sisters based on the local input he has received. Local residents and church members Rebecca and Thomas Womack were instrumental in bringing the group to Sisters.

Anderson and his brother co-pastor the church, and they will rotate responsibilities between Sisters and Bend.

The Fellowship is linked with significantly larger churches in Eugene and Portland. Anderson said, "We are planning on doing conferences and retreats ... that will bring revenue to the city of Sisters with people staying in local hotels and eating at local restaurants."

Representing the building owner Stewart Weitzman, builder and developer Steve McGhehey explained the minor modifications he was making to the building to accommodate the church.

McGhehey, the builder of the original building, described how they have modified the once-single-use building to accommodate multiple users. In its current configuration the building offers 21,000 square feet of space. The Fellowship will be the largest tenant, with training-film maker Rescue Response Gear taking 6,000 square feet of the building. The remaining portion of the building is being occupied by small office rentals that include a storage facility, a physical therapist and a book publisher. Roughly 6,000 square feet remain available for small office rental (100 to 400 square feet).