Summerlin Presbyterian Church looks forward to move

By Jeff O'Brien

Friday, Sept. 26, 2008 | midnight

Summerlin Presbyterian Church is taking steps to accommodate the growing size of its congregation — beginning with a move to a new location in southwest Summerlin.

Last month the 160-member congregation held its first Sunday service in its new leased building at 4590 S. Hualapai Way, west of the Las Vegas Beltway and just north of Tropicana Avenue.

The church was founded in 2000 and first held services at the Gardens Community Center, followed by Ober Elementary School and Lawrence Middle School before moving into Faith Lutheran Junior/Senior High School in 2004.

But the growing number of guests on Sunday mornings became increasingly challenging for the church, said Scott Plummer, one of the elders at Summerlin Presbyterian.

"Every time we wanted to have an event not related to worship services, we had to have it in someone's home or rent another venue," Plummer said. "Now we can have midweek activities, committee meetings and grow our music program."

Summerlin Presbyterian signed a three-year lease on its new location, which is a 5,000-square-foot building divided into three sections.

The church is also searching for a new minister. Rev. Tom Lobaugh, who was the church's pastor since 2000, moved to Midland, Texas, last month to take over as pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church.

"He didn't leave because of any controversy, he just felt that he got us to this point and it was time for him to move on," Plummer said.

The majority of guests at each service, Plummer said, come from the southern and western communities of Summerlin such as Siena, The Willows, The Gardens, The Mesa and The Ridges.

Summerlin Presbyterian plans to build a new church on the corner of Town Center Drive and Garden Park Drive, although the project is still in its early stages with no timetable established yet. The new church would replace the rented facility on Hualapai Way.

"The plan calls for five separate buildings of varying sizes that would be built in phases as we get larger," Plummer said.

An agreement has also been made between Summerlin Presbyterian Church and Edem United Korean Presbyterian Church — which is on Flamingo Road east of Interstate 15 — that would allow joint use of the facility on Town Center Drive.

"Their membership is basically located along the Desert Inn and Spring Mountain corridor," Plummer said. "They feel it would be a much better location for them right here, practically in the middle of their demographic."

The county has already approved the preliminary plans and Plummer said the next step is to get acceptance from the Summerlin South Association's Design Review Committee, which should be done within the next two months.

Jeff O’Brien can be reached at 990-8957 or [email protected].