Church of the Palms celebrated the completion of the new Palms Center, a 14,000 square foot new multiuse building. The building features a café, a lounge, classrooms, multipurpose stage area with a media projector and a basketball/volleyball court. The Palms Center was designed by Carlson Studio Architecture and built by Jon F. Swift Construction.

“It is in the DNA of Church of the Palms to minister to the needs of the larger Sarasota community whether it’s through our food pantry, child-care center, tutoring program or the Samaritan Counseling Center,” said Senior Pastor Dr. Stephen McConnell. “Our mission is to Love God and Love Neighbor. Our new Palms Center will allow us to swing open another door to welcome our Sarasota neighbors into our life. We imagine people of all ages using this great facility to improve their health and to grow in new and old friendships. We envision this to be a hub for youth and families from our community wherein they can experience healthy relationships and life-giving activity,” McConnell added.

“We are excited to bring this dream to life for the Church of the Palms,” said Jason Swift, Jon F. Swift Construction president. “We can see how much the Palms Center means to the Church of the Palms and we are proud to build this long-awaited project.”

About Jon F. Swift Construction, Inc.

Jon F. Swift Construction, Inc. is recognized as one of the area’s leading commercial contractors, serving Sarasota and Manatee County public and private sector clients for nearly 40 years. The company has a proven history of providing high quality construction services for commercial, institutional and municipal projects and offers a wide array of services to meet their client’s needs including general contracting, construction management, design/build and estimating. For more information, visit www.jonfswiftinc.com.

About Church of the Palms

Church of the Palms mission and deep commitment is to Love God and Love Neighbor. Established as a mission church in 1957 with 168 Charter Members, the church has gone on to see steady growth. The current membership is over 1800, with average church attendance over 1000, and 160 children and youth in Sunday and weekly programs. As part of their commitment to love neighbor, Church of the Palms has a food pantry that distributed over 20,000 bags of food in 2017 as well as an affordable community-tutoring program for nearly 150 children. The Palms Center is a powerful extension of this commitment, with its primary intended use to minister to the mind, body and soul of people in the Sarasota community.

Church of the Palms is governed under the constitution of the Presbyterian Church USA and is a member of the Peace River Presbytery. For more information, visit, www.churchofthepalms.org.