St. David's of Denton, Texas, celebrates larger space

On September 29, a new 275-seat church was dedicated at St. David of Wales in Denton, Texas. It meets the community's need for more space for many decades.

“We want to be able to grow with Denton,” said Rev. Paul Nesta, rector of St. David since 2018. “We are in one of the fastest growing counties in America in 10 to 12 years.”

“Our ability to welcome new people has been limited for decades,” he said. Since opening the building in August, Nesta added: “We are already seeing an increase in visitor numbers. There is a lot of curiosity, new people come and stay.”

Designed by HH Architects of Richardson, Texas, the Gothic-style building cost $5 million, most of which has already been raised through two capital campaigns and a grant from the Diocese of Dallas.

Since construction began in June 2022, community members have made additional gifts of pews, a lectern and pulpit, and other furnishings for the new space. The traditional-style woodwork was designed by John Gascho of The Bethany Group in Denton.

St. David's former 1950s church building, which had no aisles and could only seat about 100 people, continues to be used for weekday services.

Founded in 1951, the community established a long-term planning committee in 1959, which quickly determined that more space was needed. For decades, the church's average Sunday attendance has been around 200.

“We were never really able to grow,” Nesta said. “We were too big for the building we had and too small to adequately construct a larger building.”

During the final years of Nesta's predecessor, Rev. HW (Sandy) Herrmann's tenure, St. David's experienced an influx of new families and discussions about a new building began again. When Nesta arrived in 2018, a capital campaign was already being planned.

The original campaign reached its goal of $2.3 million, but rising steel prices and a sharp increase in all construction costs following the coronavirus crisis led to several plan changes and a second call for funding. In total, the community raised nearly $4.5 million for the project.

“It wasn’t the best time for a construction project,” Nesta mused. “It got pretty crazy for a while.” He said the congregation was very grateful for the flexibility and insight of Fort Worth-based RJM Contractors, a company owned by RJ Miller, a fellow Episcopal member.

The consecration service was led by Rt. Rev. George Sumner, Bishop of Dallas. It included a hymn commissioned by English composer Bob Chilcott, a setting of George Herbert's “The Church-floore”.

In his sermon at the service, Nesta spoke of his gratitude for those who have built the community over the past decades: “We are here because of their work, their generosity and their faithfulness. We are not here today because a building was dedicated. We are here because a people were ordained and given good work to advance.”

“This is a chance for us to stand up and say, 'Now it's our turn to serve the people who will be here in 70 years,'” Nesta told TLC. “We rejoice in the people who will worship Jesus in an episcopal manner 70 years from now because of our prayerful, humble efforts.”