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WHEELING - What started in 1999 as conversations between a few local families has grown into a church with about 300 members and, now, its first real home.

Covenant Community Church will hold its first service today at its new location at 250 Bethany Pike in Wheeling, the former home of Jim Robinson Ford Lincoln Mercury Toyota Scion.

Over the past three months a tremendous transformation process has taken place inside the nearly 27,000 square foot structure. Work crews have converted the dealership into a facility that will offer Christian worship and fellowship in a more contemporary church setting with state-of-the-art technology.

While services begin today, the church remains a work in process, said Barry Taylor, C3's pastor.

"For the first few weeks we just want to hit the priorities," Taylor said. "Number one is we want to offer a worship service that truly glorifies God and is done with excellence. ... The second thing is that we want the message to match the ministry. If we're preaching the grace of God, then from the minute people come into the parking lot, we want them to experience that grace."

... The third thing is we want to offer the finest children's ministry that can be offered. If we can do these things, we can use that as a base to grow."

Services will be held inside what used to be the mechanic's bays at the dealership. The transformation that has taken place in that area leaves essentially no indication that a year ago, cars were being worked on in the same spot where parishioners will be sitting this morning.

C3 has a large contemporary worship hall that currently has 300 seats down with a capacity for 400 seats. The hall contains state-of-the-art audio and video equipment with a control panel located at the rear of the room. An infant "cry room" is also located at the rear of the hall, with a window for parents to view the service.

The entrance to the facility, which will actually be located at the rear of the building, contains a welcome center just inside the doors with an electronic safety check-in station for children. The front lobby facing Bethany Pike has a children's worship area, with two nursery rooms nearby that will be fully staffed. Taylor said there is a lot of vacant space inside the building, which gives them plenty of room to grow.

Covenant Community Church grew out of conversations among several area families 11 years ago. These families cited similar items they believed were missing from the churches they were attending at that time, so they decided to organize a church which would better met the needs of their families.

For the first few years the group initially met in a reception room at the Alma Grace McDonough Health & Recreation Center on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University. They moved to several locations over the years including Triadelphia Middle School and Edgwood Lutheran Church while continuing to search for a more permanent location.

Taylor said they signed a lease to move into the former Jim Robinson dealership building this past December.

"Much of what you see when you come in the building has been donated. So many of the little touches that you see like the big screen TVs and the technology ... people have just said, 'I want to do this, I want this to be special,' and they donated it," Taylor added.

Taylor said C3 offers a "family oriented" contemporary Christian worship service with a strong fellowship foundation. "Our mission is to multiply disciples, and by that we mean we want not only to present the Gospel to people in the area, but we want to help them grow in their faith and become mature Christians who can in turn share the Gospel with others."

The grand opening for C3's new building is scheduled for 10 a.m. April 4, Easter Sunday.