A longtime staple of the Bloomington, Ill., community, Vale Church has seen its congregation increase by more than a third in recent years. Their response, in addition to boosting staff, was to purchase 37 acres of land for a brand-new facility — designed from the ground up to be a physical representation of the church's modern philosophy and sense of community.
"It's about building community," says Rev. Ted Max, lead pastor at Vale Church. "We don't want to divide ourselves when we're together, so the building is designed to bring us together. It represents an opportunity for more people to come."