With the membership of St. James spanning the metropolitan area, church leadership looked to expand its footprint. In July 2015, the Renaissance United Methodist Church became the St. James-Renaissance Campus. Located at 7205 Longview Rd, the location was key to accommodating members living in South Kansas City, Grandview, and Overland Park.
A 2019 building inspection of the Renaissance facility identified over $300,000 in repairs. Choosing to dedicate resources to ministry instead of an aging building, church leadership began discussions about the future of the Renaissance Campus. Soon after that, the COVID-19 virus spread and our government issued quarantine orders that resulted in a nationwide shutdown. On March 17, 2020, St. James suspended all in-person activities, including worship. During this time, discussions regarding the future of the Renaissance campus continued. Ultimately, a decision to close was made. To continue serving those members that lived to the south, a shared church agreement with St. Luke’s United Methodist Church located on the northwest corner of Bannister and James A. Reed Road. On Resurrection Sunday 2021, we returned to in-person worship. While we returned to in-person worship, attendance and giving were impacted. Lower levels of in-person attendance and ever-increasing operational expenses eventually led church leadership to unite St. James under one roof on Christmas Sunday 2022.