Peace church lands a home

After seven years without a home to call its own, Peace Presbyterian Church has a permanent place to worship.

At its land-use meeting today, the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the church’s general development plan to take over an unoccupied 15,054 square foot office building at 12705 State Road 64 E. 

The plan, which covers 22 acres in total, also calls for the church to build a new 210-seat sanctuary.

Since 2010, Peace has been meeting in a wing of the Manatee Association of Realtors’ building, 10910 Technology Terrace. 

Before that, the church worshiped at the State College of Florida’s Lakewood Ranch campus.

Pastor Elizabeth Deibert says she will close on the property later this afternoon before an early December move-in.

“I love watching a church’s DNA develop and become a part of people,” Deibert said. “It’s rewarding to be able to dream what a church can be and say ‘Let’s try to live it out.’ We have a home now.”

The church’s new home, peaceful with hawks and ibis sauntering in the vast green space outside the building, previously housed the Aurora Ministries, so it has many classrooms and a small chapel that will allow Peace’s roughly 250 regular church-goers to participate in services there until the sanctuary is ready. 

Read more about this story in the Nov. 14 East County Observer.

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].