Five-year, $850K church renovation finished in Stroud Township

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Christian Life Assembly choir members sing during the service on Sunday morning in the newly finished wing of the church.Melissa Evanko/Pocono Record

January 20, 2014

Christian Life Assembly first began holding services at its church in Stroud Township in December 1983. On Sunday, just over 30 years later, members gathered to dedicate a fully renovated, expanded church that displays how much the congregation has grown since then.

More than 300 people sat comfortably in the sanctuary to celebrate those involved in the construction of the new church addition that took five years, and those who built the congregation membership over the last 30-plus years.

"Because you have been faithful, God has brought you to this point. But I can tell you, we would never be at this point unless there were others who laid the groundwork before us," said Lead Pastor Craig Johnson.

Helping to draw a link between the church's history and its next chapter were two longtime leaders former Lead Pastor John Puleo and former Associate Pastor Tim Holmes.

Holmes told congregants about his first visit to a much smaller Christian Life Assembly in 1985. He said even at that point, the church's pastor was talking construction.

"He told me, 'Tim, where do you think we can add onto this church?'" Holmes recalled.

Since then it seems the church has done nothing but grow, both in size and membership. Holmes, a longtime church board member, said each year the board had some kind of construction project in mind.

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Five-year, $850K church renovation finished in Stroud Township