Building High-Quality Churches

How ICM met the building needs of two unique Oxford, Miss., worshiping communities.

Pinelake Church Oxford — The Pinelake Oxford building was unique in the amount of different exterior skin materials that the design incorporated, as well as the landscape of the undeveloped property.

Glancing back through the pivotal moments of architectural history, it would be hard to argue for a type of space more important than the church. From the flying buttresses of Gothic cathedrals to the simple clapboard churches dotting the American countryside, churches have driven innovation and experimentation.

But more than that, churches serve as places for community and communion, worship and witness. Literal pillars of the community, they are the places where people of all ages mark life events, practice their faith and ponder life’s deepest mysteries.

In recent years, Innovative Construction Management (ICM) had the opportunity to play a pivotal role in building new spaces for two beloved churches in ICM’s homebase of Oxford, Miss. The first, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, sought to add onto their original 1860 structure to support the ministry of their growing congregation. Pinelake Oxford, planted in 2015, hoped to build a permanent home after years of worshiping in a rented space.

We sat down with J. R. Moore, who served as project manager for both the St. Peter’s and Pinelake projects, to discuss what it took for ICM to deliver these two very different faith-based construction projects. A graduate of the University of Mississippi’s M.B.A. program, Moore joined ICM’s team in 2019.

Moore said that while all construction projects have the same core processes and elements, he appreciated the meaning and impact behind a church’s space.

“It was so clear how much [these projects] mattered and I felt honored to work with both churches,” he said. “They had a big impact on the community of Oxford and the people here. You could see that appreciation onsite.”

St. Peter’s: An Addition to One of Oxford’s Most Historic Churches

The addition (foreground, rear view) to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church seamlessly blended the new construction with the historic original sanctuary (in rear left of photo, with steeple).

Located on the edge of the celebrated Oxford Square, the congregation at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church has worshiped in their historic structure for over 150 years. As the church grew, parish leadership realized the need to build new spaces to support both internal and public-facing ministries.

The result was a 12,000-square-foot new construction centered around a parish hall, commercial kitchen, updated bathrooms and rooms for classes and meetings, as well as renovation of the existing classrooms, sacristy, vesting room and choir room.

“St. Peter’s is one of those places that’s needed those things for a long time, so this was really important to the church as a whole and it made a big impact on the Oxford community,” Moore said.

The ICM-St. Peter’s partnership began in 2017, when the St. Peter’s project was very much in the preconstruction phase. As St. Peter’s planned out their hopes and dreams of the new space, ICM’s team walked them through the design and planning phase, working alongside McCarty Architects of Tupelo, Miss.

One major concern for churches — charged with being good stewards of their congregation’s resources — is the budget. ICM helped St. Peter’s ensure they could build the best possible structure within their budget, on a timeframe that worked around church life.

Construction kicked off in 2021, with the church remaining open throughout the entire building process, allowing worship and most other parish activities to carry on without interruption.

“The logistical challenges of being on the Oxford Square and working through multiple football and baseball seasons took ICM’s processes to the next level.”

— J. R. Moore, Project Manager, ICM

Moore said the most important aspect of the process was regular communication with the parish’s rector, who would keep the rest of the congregation informed. This communication included weekly recaps of ICM’s planning with contractors as well as a monthly owner-architect-contractor meeting.

“That kept St. Peter’s plugged in on a week-to-week basis,” Moore said. “They could express concerns and we could be sure we were hearing what the church had going on. … We needed to hear their concerns and what they were seeing.”

These conversations week-by-week and month-by-month allowed everyone to stay on the same page and ultimately kept the project moving forward on time and within St. Peter’s budget.

One early conversation centered around how dirt work might impact the historic nave, a brick structure built in the mid-1800s. To ensure the construction would not impact the nineteenth-century structure, ICM brought in a third-party structural integrity monitoring service to keep a close eye on any vibrations and movement.

“ICM, the design team and the church took extreme measures to make sure nothing happened to the existing facility,” Moore said.

Another challenge for any building around St. Peter’s is its location — right in the middle of some of Oxford’s busiest streets and a stone’s throw from Ole Miss. Again, Moore said, this was a potential problem solved by communication, as well as detailed planning and coordination.

“The logistical challenges of being on the Oxford Square and working through multiple football and baseball seasons took ICM’s processes to the next level,” he said. “We made sure that things were coordinated properly with the church, City of Oxford and Ole Miss.”

ICM creatively managed these logistical challenges by, for instance, scheduling deliveries outside of high-traffic times and screening truck sizes before arrival. ICM also made sure to communicate expectations around safety, security and behavior to all trade partners, since the project was visible to not only the church but any visitors to the Oxford Square.

“Those expectations really made the construction process a lot better. There was a higher level of respect and communication. It’s what [both St. Peter’s and Pinelake] deserved but it also helped us on the construction side of things,” Moore said. “The atmosphere changed. People were happier. The communication was better.”

The church’s new space opened in spring 2022 and has allowed St. Peter’s to gather together in the parish hall, expand their outreach ministries and host a variety of classes and small group meetings. Located in a prominent pedestrian area, it’s also become a beautiful and cohesive part of the Oxford Square’s cityscape for locals and visitors alike.

Pinelake: A Unique, Modern Home for a Vibrant Congregation

Pinelake’s Oxford campus was planted in 2015 and, with a congregation of more than 1,500 people today, has seen massive growth since their first worship service. For several years, they’d rented out the Oxford Conference Center off of Sisk Avenue.

As time passed, though, Pinelake realized that their Oxford campus would need a permanent home to support worship, small group meetings and youth and college ministry. They hoped to construct a new building that would give them flexible, modern spaces for meetings throughout the week.

“This was something that was really needed by the Pinelake community … It was rewarding to be able to work with the Pinelake community to provide them with a home to call their own,” Moore said.

“Pinelake was a really challenging, complex, unique design between the finishes and how the building was constructed.”

— J. R. Moore, Project Manager, ICM

ICM came on board to the process early, supporting Pinelake leadership and collaborating with the project’s architects and engineers throughout the design, estimation and budgeting phases of preconstruction.

Because of Pinelake’s growing need for a permanent space, ICM’s primary concern was taking steps in the planning process to ensure the project would be completed on time and under budget.

“The early stages required a lot of critical thinking,” said Moore. “We wanted to make sure that what was being designed would work in construction and hash out any issues on the front end so we’d be able to continue to build, rather than stopping and starting.”

The final Pinelake Oxford building design involved 60,000 square feet of all-new construction, featuring multiple amphitheaters, several classrooms, gathering areas for small groups, staff offices and a common area.

The final building design involved 60,000 square feet of all-new construction, featuring multiple amphitheaters, several classrooms, gathering areas for small groups, staff offices and a common area.

Moore said the building was unique in the amount of different exterior skin materials that the design incorporated, as well as the landscape of the undeveloped property.

“Pinelake was a really challenging, complex, unique design between the finishes and how the building was constructed,” he said. “It’s up on a big hill and took several months of dirt work, lots of glass and steel and the challenges of coordinating that intricate work.”

Pinelake is known for its powerful, exciting worship services, complete with a praise band playing contemporary music. To ensure everything looked and sounded perfect, Pinelake hired a third-party audiovisual contractor known nationally for supporting concerts on tour. As the project neared completion, ICM’s team coordinated with the group to set the worship spaces up.

“It was really remarkable to see it all in action,” Moore said.

In February 2023, Pinelake held their first services in their new building. In the time since, Pinelake has utilized their permanent space for weekday meetings, youth and college ministry and more. It quickly became the home they wanted.

“Among the people of Oxford, Pinelake has a wide net, and the excitement this new building generated was really fun to be a part of,” he said. “I met a lot of people who could not wait for those doors to open.”

Other Church Projects Managed by ICM

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (Completed 2018)
First Presbyterian Church Tupelo (Completed 2020)
Pinelake Starkville (In Progress)

Conclusion: ICM’s Approach to Church Construction

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church addition, interior space.

While the St. Peter’s and Pinelake projects were both very different, Moore said that—as church buildings and ICM projects—the fundamentals remained the same across both.

First, ICM respected the unique aspects of any church community and made sure to keep the whole congregation included in relevant decisions and developments.

“Church work is unique in that you’re taking in the specific requests and desires of a whole congregation. … We really made sure that people’s concerns were taken into account since each church community has so many moving parts,” he said.

Second, ICM brought transparency, honesty and great communication to each day on the job.

“Transparency, honesty and communication with the organization and anyone associated with them is the most important aspect of the construction process for ICM,” Moore said. “You gain a lot of trust—and you’re able to more easily achieve what an owner or organization is hoping to achieve.”