Pastor Ronnie Trice and his wife Sandy organized Maranatha Church in December 1973, initially to serve its local community of Mont Belvieu, Texas. But church membership increased rapidly, so its congregation soon outgrew the sanctuary they then used, which seated six hundred.

A multitude of 1,400 to 1,700 gathers for a typical Sunday service at the Christian Center Cathedral of Praise in South Bend, Indiana. “But,” says Associate Pastor Stefan Radelich, “there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

For a stranger in Gainesville, Texas, a town of about 16,500 people, the Whaley United Methodist Church and its Monolithic Dome multipurpose center is a little hard to find. But most resident can tell you exactly where “the dome” is. That’s because, since it’s completion in 2005, this Monolithic Dome is used, not only by the church, but by the community.

After five years of continual use, most members of Pilgrims United Church of Christ in Fruitland Park, Florida are just as enthusiastic about their two Monolithic Domes as they were at that deciding meeting when eighty-four of the eighty-nine present voted for their construction.

In 1992, Jimmie Keas, the Minister at Church of Christ in Salina, Kansas, and the congregation made a big decision. They began researching various building designs and came across information on Monolithic Domes, that immediately sparked their interest.

Abundant Life Church in Denham Springs, Louisiana built a sanctuary with a Monolithic Dome atop a stemwall that is eighteen feet high and one foot thick. This main sanctuary has a diameter of 192 feet and encompasses 28,000 square feet, with a seating capacity for 2800 worshippers.

Since its opening in 1991, the two Monolithic Domes of City Bible Church have become somewhat of a landmark in Portland, Oregon. Art Johansen, facility administrator at City Bible, is very much in favor of that development.

On its website (milehichurch.org) that’s how Mile Hi Church in Lakewood, Colorado talks about its new sanctuary — a huge Monolithic Dome that called for an Airform of 44,000 square feet. Opened in April 2008, the dome has a diameter of 232 feet, a height of 60 feet, a seating capacity of 1500.

When Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, Arizona opened its new Monolithic Domes a little more than a year ago, thousands came. They filled the church’s 2000-seat sanctuary and overflowed its 860-space parking lot.

While it can’t fly, Lake Christian Church in Palmyra, Virginia is a Monolithic Dome sanctuary with wings, designed by D. Thomas Kincaid, A.I.A. The sanctuary’s 104-foot diameter encompasses an area used mainly for religious services that can be easily converted into a multipurpose room, since its seating is movable.

Legacy Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico fits the bill of a megachurch. It has a current congregation of 5,000; a new Monolithic Dome sanctuary that seats 3,000; a ministry that includes special programs for every age group; televised, recorded services with contemporary music and drama presentations; an elementary school and a bible academy.

Birmingham, Alabama is home to the largest diameter Monolithic Dome church in the world. Built in 2000, Faith Chapel Christian Center measures 280-feet in diameter with a seating capacity of approximately 3,000. The dome encloses 61,575 square feet. The church was designed by Architect Rick Crandall and Dome Technology of Idaho Falls, Idaho built the dome shell.

It took two and a half years from groundbreaking to the first service, but Brooksville Assembly of God in Brooksville, Florida successfully completed their Monolithic Dome church — debt free. Presently 1300 call Brooksville A/G their church home, but the dome offers room to grow with seating capacity for 2300.

A Monolithic Dome that is semi-elliptical in shape, 143’ in diameter and 45’ in height will greet youths arriving for summer camp and adults attending retreats at the Thousand Oaks Retreat Center near Barry, Texas this summer. Established in 1995 by the DFW Church of Christ Jesus in Carrollton, Texas.

Most people really like what they see, hear and feel when they visit the recently completed St. Joseph Catholic Church in Commerce, Texas. And with its completion, the original church became the Parish Hall. “That was how we planned to do this right from the start,” Rev. George Monaghan said. “But that became one of our first challenges.” The pastor and his planning committee wondered what kind of a new structure would fit well with the old. They suspected that only something cornered and traditional would fit architecturally, but they wanted a structure that was energy-efficient, low maintenance, affordable and durable. Was that possible?