Church finds home in new Port bluff subdivision

Port Washington is about to get a new church in one of the newest parts of the city.

Lakeside Alliance Church, which is affiliated with the Christian Missionary Alliance, is expected to open in the Prairie’s Edge subdivision on the city’s south side by the end of this year, Pastor Jon Vallier said.

Typically churches launch in smaller, temporary facilities, perhaps a school building on the weekend, he said, but this opportunity is unique.

The church will be a tenant in a commercial building built by Black Cap Halcyon, which is developing Prairie’s Edge, Vallier said, offering benefits to both parties.

“They get a tenant for a certain number of years that works for them, and we get to be a fixture in the city,” he said.

“This affords us better ministry options and allows us to become a part of the community. We’ll have a permanent location where we don’t have to unstack chairs every weekend and then stack them when we’re done.”

The developer is going to move up the timetable for constructing the building, which will be shared with the Prairie’s Edge sales office, Vallier said.

While the sales building will take up about 1,000 square feet, the church will have about 5,400 square feet, including an auditorium with seating for 140 to 150 people, classroom space, restrooms and a small kitchenette.

“It’s just a beautiful location,” Vallier, who lives in Port, said. “You can’t get much more lakeside than that. We are fully expecting God to do something special.”

The church will be at 1081 Shieling La., just off South Wisconsin Street.

“We will be very visible,” Vallier said. “I look at this as a godsend for us.”    

The new church is an offshoot of Alliance Bible Church in Mequon, which has been looking at the potential of starting a new church since 2020, Vallier said.

“We had been growing fairly significantly, and have been since the pandemic,” he said, adding many of those new members lived farther away from the church.

When he came to the church six years ago, he said, 400 to 500 people would attend Sunday service.

Last week, 980 people attended the Sunday service.

With the growth and projected growth in Port and Saukville, this was an ideal area to start a church, Vallier said, noting about 40 families from the area attend Alliance Bible Church.

Congregation member Jean Boothby, a Port resident, put the church in touch with the developer, he said.

Vallier said it’s expected that the church will open by the end of the year with about 55 families.

The congregation has raised about $600,000 to start the new church, funding everything from staff to equipment and a location, Vallier said.

In preparation for the new church, Vallier said, the congregation is beginning a more intentional ministry in the community.   

  More information about the new church will be presented during a 5 p.m. meeting on Sunday, April 30, at Engine Room 102, 102 Pier St., Port Washington.