St. Paul's is an Anglican church, (under the authority of the Anglican Missions in the Americas - AMIA) but Greene said it's not what most people envision when they think of Anglican.

"We've tried to take the Anglican service and update it," Greene said.

The building, for which the church has a long-term lease, had 12,000 square feet, but Ward found room to add a second floor with 4,000 square feet, which is dedicated entirely to children and youth.

"We started out as kind of church-in-a-box," Ward said. "We carried the chairs and everything else around in the trunks of our car."

Worshippers would arrive at Grace OB/Gyn office, unload, set up and then have to break everything down and pack up after the service.

"I like to say we were birthed in that place," Ward said.

The church moved to larger space a year later - the upper auditorium at Carolina Day School - but they still had to carry all the prayer books and hymnals around in their cars.

In 2005, they moved to a former architectural office on Hendersonville Road.

All the while, Greene was dreaming, and Ward was drawing.

"I have a drawer full of drawings," Ward said. "We had all these ideas of what our permanent space would look like."

Finally, last year, they found the former warehouse and gym.

"Building this kind of space would have been way beyond our means," Ward said. "But converting it was within our reach."

Much of Ward's design was built by church members, including the magnificent wooden cross that hangs from the ceiling above the chancel.

"The sanctuary seats 250 with room for expansion," Ward said.

Greene is not certain he knows what to dream of next.

"I never saw myself as a church planter, but here I am," he said. "I always saw a traditional church building, but here we are."

END