Plans for megachurch being scaled back

BIDDEFORD – Plans for one of the largest churches in New England – with seating for 4,375 people – are being scaled back because of escalating construction prices.

Costs for New Life Christian Fellowship’s proposed new church rose by $2 million in six months, the Rev. Tom Gallant said. “You see a significant increase like that, you pull the reins pretty hard,” he said.

The size of the proposed 120,000-square-foot church in Biddeford was unusual in the Northeast. Theologians use the term “megachurch” to describe such large, mostly Protestant congregations. Now the nondenominational evangelical church is considering a 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot expansion at its current site.

New Life Christian Fellowship’s decision to delay construction also has implications for a commercial development in Biddeford. The 480,000-square-foot Biddeford Crossing shopping center was to be built on land that includes the current 500-seat church. The church is negotiating a severance agreement with Packard Development, which purchased an option to build The Shops at Biddeford Crossing.