EAST WINDSOR — St. Paul’s Lutheran Church has a good problem — too many people attending services.
By Matt Chiappardi, The Packet Group
”When a church gets to 75 to 80 percent capacity, a visitor will consider it full and too crowded,” said Paul Prior, co-chairman of the church’s building committee.
Pastor James Egan feels the same way.
”It gets uncomfortable when the building is too full,” he said.
So, to make room for a growing congregation, church officials recently decided it was time to add onto the church structure that has stood on One Mile Road since 1969.
It’s a project the pastor estimated would cost $1.9 million. The church has had about $900,000 pledged for the project with about $525,000 of that received so far, he said.
Right now, the chapel can fit about 200 people including the choir and clergy, said the Rev. Egan. A planned 4,100-square-foot addition, he said, would boost that capacity by about 50 percent and eventually give the chapel the ability to seat 300 of the about 500-member congregation at one time.
”We’re a welcoming community, people who come here say that all the time,” said Mr. Prior. “I felt the same thing when I came here,” he added.
Mr. Prior became a member of St. Paul’s congregation in 1996, when he moved to the area. Since that time, he said, he’s seen the congregation grow.
”On Christmas and Easter, we’re seating people all the way out in the lobby,” he said.
The Rev. Egan added, “We’re a congregation that works hard to include folks.”
“Over the years we’ve become a bit more reflective of the community. We have people from Africa, Latino members, members of Asian Indian descent. It’s nice to have that,” the church’s pastor for nearly three decades said.
In addition to raising the chapel’s capacity by about 100 people, according to Mr. Prior, the building plan would give the chapel a major upgrade that church officials have been planning for the past two and half years. It would get better lighting and better acoustics, said Mr. Prior, the latter being the most important of the physical improvements.
”In a church the biggest problem you have is sound,” he said.
”There’s either too much echo or you can’t hear anything,” he added.
The new acoustics would include a modern sound system with additional speakers and a large video screen to go along with that, said the Rev. Egan.
On the outside, the plans call for also making the building taller, Mr. Prior said.
Currently the chapel looks like a typical A-frame home. The addition, he said, would make the building look more like the traditional American church with a steeple-like structure.
”It will be much more noticeable as a church from the road,” he said.
Plans have been drawn, and the church is ready to build, but the structure still must go before the township Zoning Board of Adjustment for approval.
The church building predates the current zoning regulations for setback from the road, according to Township Clerk Cindy Dye. It is 46 feet from the road, while the current regulation calls for buildings to be at least 100 feet from the road. Because of this discrepancy, any construction addition would require a variance, she said.
Any new construction also requires a use variance, according to Ms. Dye, since the land where the church sits is not zoned for religious use. The church was built before that zoning ordinance was enacted.
And the church needs another variance to add 25 to 40 parking spaces that Mr. Prior said are necessary to accommodate more members. Currently, the church shares parking with Hightstown Medical Associates next door, said the Rev. Egan, and hopes to continue that arrangement even after the addition is finished.
The pastor said he is confident there won’t be any problems with the church’s application, which is scheduled to be heard by the zoning board Sept. 20.
”The township recognizes that having churches in the community is a sign of its health,” he said.
Township Zoning Officer Marvin Lesser declined to comment.
Church officials said they have already met with their neighbors to iron out any potential problems. Mr. Prior said the church has responded to suggestions on the site plan from township officials, including adding a detention pond.
”We don’t think there will be any problems because we’re not making any major changes to the footprint of the building,” he said.
”But in construction, one never knows,” he added.
If the zoning board grants the building permit, construction could begin within 45 days, Mr. Prior said. That puts the start date somewhere around November or December of this year.
Mr. Prior estimated that construction would last about year and hopes the addition would open before the end of 2008 or in early 2009.
The project coincides with St. Paul’s 70th anniversary this year, and that strikes Mr. Prior as perhaps having some cosmic significance.
”It’s either coincidence or divine,” he said.

