In 1995, more than 300 volunteers built Crossroads United Methodist Church in North Fayette. They had no construction loan. They had no contractor.

The church has grown since then, to say the least.

Each weekend, the congregation holds seven services in that original church building to accommodate all of the worshippers, and it has established branch churches in Bridgeville and East Liberty. It draws about 2,000 for special services at Christmas and Easter.

"We're starting to be pretty filled up," senior pastor the Rev. Steve Cordle said.

With a bit more in the way of resources, the burgeoning church has established a $4.5 million fund-raising goal to add a 700-seat sanctuary and eight more acres to its nine-acre site adjacent to the Oakdale interchange on Route 22/30.

The existing 300-seat sanctuary would be used for "video cafe" services -- recorded services broadcast in a cafe-style setting.

Crossroads has engaged church-project specialist Cogun, Inc. of North Lima, Ohio, to oversee the sanctuary's design and construction.

"We haven't really arrived at a design yet," Rev. Cordle said, "but it's going to essentially match the current style, clean and informal. We hope that when it's done it's not too obvious that it's an addition."

He said fund-raising is ongoing and the church hopes to break ground about a year from now.

One immediate benefit of a larger sanctuary will be a reduction in the number of services. Rev. Cordle said he anticipates having one live service Saturday night and one live and one video service Sunday morning, though he noted with a laugh that "we hope eventually we will have enough people that we will need the extra services again."

Why the church's success?

"I can't really say for sure," Rev. Cordle said, but he offered two possibilities.

The first is fairly simple. "I think most people when they come here feel a sense of warmth, of caring," he said.

The second runs a little deeper.

"We don't exist for ourselves," Rev. Cordle said. "A lot of the things we do are outward oriented; we are very much influenced by reaching out with the love of God to others."

He said the church was about to send its fifth group of 20 people to New Orleans to help in the continuing recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina.

Internationally, the church is focusing its efforts in the African nation of Mozambique. "We're doing a deep dive, you might say, going to this one place to share the good news and good works of Jesus," Rev. Cordle said.

He said church members are planning their third Mozambique trip in April to drill wells and train church leaders. He is hoping for a cultural exchange, with someone from the Mozambique church coming back to teach in North Fayette.

"Doing this, reaching out to others, is a lot of what church is to us," Rev. Cordle said. "Church is a mission."

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