More than 350 members of Trinity Presbyterian Church, the oldest Presbyterian congregation in McKinney, celebrated the church’s growth by gathering Sunday on the site of a new building addition and breaking ground.

Bagpiper Charlie Melvin, a Trinity member, led a procession to the building site south of the main church edifice, where an outline of the 14,000-square-foot addition was marked in white paint. There, church leaders, elders, guests and about 30 children helped turn the dirt during a groundbreaking celebration. The ceremony signifies the start of construction on Trinity’s third expansion to its current building, which opened in 1991.

“We have been waiting a long time for this day,” said Senior Pastor Patrick McCoy, who thanked God for allowing Trinity’s ministry to grow. The Rev. McCoy praised the congregation for pledging and raising money for the $3.075 million expansion project during Trinity’s “Time to Grow” campaign.

Associate Pastor Mally Baum led a prayer, thanking Trinity’s founders and the congregation members who came before those gathered. She asked God for safety on the job site and for the new building addition to be evidence of God’s sense of purpose in the community.

“No building can contain Your glory,” she prayed, “but this expansion will show that Your spirit is at work in the world.”

The expansion project includes a “great hall,” which will serve as a multi-purpose worship and recreation space to better accommodate Trinity Presbyterian’s growing congregation. Construction is scheduled to begin June 9, 2008, and the addition is expected to open in June 2009.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, church members enjoyed a barbecue lunch and family-oriented activities, including a bounce house that was popular with the younger set. Music during the festivities was provided by McKinney Fire Chief Mark Wallace, a Trinity member, and two of his musician friends, Chris Davies and Duane Brown, members of the E-Flat Porch Band.

Distinguished guests at the event included the Rev. McCoy, who has led Trinity’s congregation since 1993; the Rev. Baum, associate pastor since August 2005; Pastor Emeritus Don Andrews; the Rev. Joseph Whitner, parish associate; the Rev. Dr. Fred Ryle Jr., stated clerk of Grace Presbytery; Carl Cunningham, a Trinity member since 1945; and Ruth Hayes, a Trinity member since 1928. Ms. Hayes’ sister, Eva Joplin, donated the original four acres for Trinity’s current location on Virginia Parkway.

Other distinguished guests were Eddie Collins, chairman of Trinity’s building design and construction committee; Jim Wilson Jr. of Jim Wilson Architects, project architect and Trinity member; Kobey Seale, project manager; and Kevin Griffin, regional president of Independent Bank, which is providing financing.

Trinity Presbyterian celebrated its 150^th anniversary in 2005. Ministers Wesley A.Williams and Uriah Smith organized McKinney's first Presbyterian congregation in 1855. In 1871, the session made plans for a new church, and the church received a donated lot at the corner of Church and Davis streets, in the heart of downtown McKinney, to be the site of the new church building.

In 1986, the congregation took a leap of faith and decided to build a new church on a piece of former pastureland donated by Eva Joplin. Her children donated two additional acres of land as plans for Phase II were developed. The congregation’s decision to move the church from downtown landed Trinity Presbyterian in the middle of what would become growing, vibrant neighborhoods – and closer to new families looking for a church home.

The groundbreaking for the current building, at 5871 W. Virginia Parkway, took place on Dec. 24, 1989. Members attended the first worship service on Dec. 31, 1990, and celebrated a service of dedication on June 16, 1991.

For more information about Trinity Presbyterian Church, please call the Rev. Patrick McCoy at (972) 542-4629 or visit www.TPCMcKinney.org.