In a city where summer temperatures often soar into the 100s (high 30s and into the 40s Celsius), residents of Merced, Calif., have long sought ways to stay cool. Mark Humphreys, pastor of Gateway Community Church, a Christian Reformed congregation in that city, understands this all too well. “Having lived all my life in the Central Valley, I can remember spending summers at the community pool until finally one summer my parents built a pool of our own,” he said. “We all have needs and wants; well, a pool is a need if you spend any time here.”
However, community pools have become scarce in Merced, primarily due to insurance companies’ reluctance to cover the liability. This shortage of cooling options led Gateway Church to embark on an ambitious project to serve the local children.
About eight years ago, during discussions about their summer camp program, Humphreys and his team were disheartened by the number of children they had to turn away due to limited capacity. "We started a building project, called Generations, to add 18,000 square feet for our children’s program," Humphreys recounted. During the planning stages, the idea of creating a splash pad for kids to cool off was proposed but initially dismissed due to space constraints. This sparked a larger vision: to develop a park-like area on the church's back lawn, featuring bike paths, gazebos, and a splash pad.
The "lawn project" began to take shape in the fall of 2021, just as the city of Merced introduced a grant program to fund outdoor projects encouraging community engagement following the COVID-19 pandemic. Gateway Church applied and received over $90,000, covering about two-thirds of the project's costs. The new space includes two splash pads—one for toddlers and one for grade schoolers—able to accommodate about 30 children at a time.
Humphreys envisions the space being used for school field trips, homeschool groups, and special needs groups. The church plans to open the area to its congregation one Sunday a month and to the public once or twice a week. The church's summer kids camps have already made use of the new facilities.
“We are currently working on the rules, waivers, and other things we need to make it available to the public, but we hope it will happen soon,” Humphreys said.
He’s excited about the church’s development being a resource to the community. Even before it was finished it was already attracting bookings. Humphreys said a kindergarten teacher had reserved the space for 70 children. Although the splash pad wasn't ready in time, “Imagine if those 70 kids spent a day playing in the splash pad and when they went home, Mom and Dad would ask, ‘What did you do today?’ They would say, ‘We played in the splash pad at Gateway Church!’”
Gateway had an unofficial opening of the splash pad June 30, the same day it installed a new pastor and celebrated 39 baptisms. It plans to host a community day sometime in August to officially unveil the project, inviting city officials and community members. “It started out as a small dream before COVID hit. It became a reality when we had access to the grant,” Humphreys said. With that covering the majority of the funding, “the rest came from donations and free labor.” After the last of the safety guidelines are complete, “We are hoping it will be open to the public starting in August, going through September.”
About the Author
Dan Veeneman works in the dairy industry as a ventilation specialist. He lives in Abbotsford, B.C., with his wife and three children. He is a member of Gateway Community Church.