The La Jolla Community Church, a congregation of close to 300 members that was founded in 2005, recently acquired a new property with an existing sanctuary and preschool in University City Towne Center.
The organization plans to either renovate the sanctuary, which is built on a 3.6-acre parcel at 4377 Eastgate Mall, or construct a new building in the near future, according to Scott McClendon, La Jolla Community Church board of directors chairman.
“It gives us a home,” McClendon said of the church’s purchase, adding that since the group’s inception services have been held at the Hilton Torrey Pines in La Jolla. “The hotel has been a wonderful interim home, but this gives us a real physical home, and we hope we can draw from the broader area. It’s a wonderful central location.”
The church held a Feb. 21 Ash Wednesday service at the facility and hopes to host more community events to increase the public’s awareness of its new location, McClendon said.
La Jolla Community Church plans to continue operating the on-site preschool, which has been an ongoing part of the various organizations that have used the sanctuary for the past 30 years, he said.
“We really want to reach out to the community in a variety of ways and try to draw from constituents in the UTC area,” McClendon said. “There are lots of houses, apartments and businesses, and it’s close to UCSD “” we want to be able to appeal to the whole community.”
For more information about La Jolla Community Church, visit www.ljcommunitychurch.org.