LONDONDERRY — With detailed plans revealed to the Planning Board this week, members of the congregation that split from the Londonderry Presbyterian Church several years ago are another step closer to building their permanent home.

Members of the Orchard Christian Fellowship appeared before the Heritage Commission last fall, where they shared conceptual plans for their new facility to be built on former orchard land at 136 Pillsbury Road.

On Wednesday night, congregants returned to Londonderry Town Hall and unveiled an updated set of plans for their church.

Project engineer Jeff Lewis said previous concerns over the building's setback location have since been addressed.

“Some suggestions were to put the building closer to the road and add more parking,” said Lewis. “So we've been evaluating different options for this building, in giving the community what it wants.”

Lewis further noted the plan originally called for a 400-seat church to be built as the site's first phase, with plans for a larger sanctuary a possibility in the future.

This week, church officials said they'd like to downsize those plans a bit and instead start with a 300-seat church.

“We're going forward with that plan for now,” said Lewis.

Parishioner Doug Campbell said he'd met with environmental experts in hopes of devising a plan to preserve some of the site's original apple trees.

“The trees would block the view of the parking lot,” said Campbell.

Right now, the congregation has an agreement with nearby Mack's Apples, and orchard manager Mike Cross had agreed to look after the trees up until they break ground on the project.

However, Campbell noted that many of the site's trees are past their prime and are no longer producing apples.

Community Development Director Andre Garron commended the church members for their efforts to work with the town.

Garron noted the church would be located on the town's scenic Apple Way, so therefore preserving the area's agricultural roots is a priority.

“It looks like it's going to be a nice looking building,” he added.

Church officials said they hoped to break ground on the project sometime this fall.

Orchard Christian Fellowship, affiliated with the New Wineskins Non-Geographic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), currently hosts its Sunday services at Matthew Thornton Elementary School.

The congregation has been holding its services at the school for the past several years following a much-publicized rift with the congregation that currently meets at the historic white chapel on the corner of Mammoth and Pillsbury roads.

The two congregations were divided into two groups in fall 2007, when the majority of congregants voted to break away from the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) denomination and become affiliated with the more conservative EPC. PCUSA was awarded rights to the church in summer 2008, but a settlement entitled EPC members to a 15-acre lot located between the Londonderry Presbyterian Church and the town's historical society complex.

Since then, Orchard Christian Fellowship has been raising money to build its own church through an extensive capital campaign.

AGuilmet@newstote.com

WHAT'S NEXT: A public hearing will take place later this summer.