Special Easter services this year will provide First United Methodist Church — a downtown congregation for 150 years — an opportunity to plant the seeds for future growth at the congregation’s second campus on the west side of Lawrence.

For the first time since the 1,600-member church acquired 67 acres of land in the fall of 2001 for its planned “Celebration Center,” the church will offer two additional Easter worship services on the city’s west side.

But the contemporary, music-filled services at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. will not be at the site of the as-yet-undeveloped second campus, at the southwest corner of the intersection of U.S. Highway 40 and Kansas Highway 10.

Instead, they’ll take place just a mile up the road from the campus, in the downstairs banquet facility of Hereford House restaurant, 4931 W. Sixth St.

And while parents are attending the services, children (from birth through third grade) are invited to go to Googols of Fun, in the same shopping center as Hereford House, for an Easter lesson or story, arts and crafts and supervised play with the church’s own trained, certified workers.

The goal of the special services and children’s activities is to lay the groundwork for future participation at Celebration Center, making initial contacts with Lawrence residents living west of Iowa Street who might not belong to a church.

“This is the first public step in our plans for developing the second campus,” said the Rev. David Livingston, the church’s associate pastor.

“Right after the Easter service, we’re going to have some small groups that will start on topics like marriage and parenting, and a singles group. Those will meet in people’s homes on the west side of town.”

Then, on Aug. 21, the church will begin weekly worship services downstairs at Hereford House, with free children’s activities offered at Googols of Fun.

“Those will continue until we have the west campus first-phase building complete and we’re able to move in,” Livingston said.

The first phase of development at the campus site, which will cost about $4 million, calls for a 15,000-square-foot, multipurpose building that can be used for worship services or indoor athletics. It will also likely feature a playground, amphitheater, walking trails and soccer and football fields, all open to the community.

The church hopes to break ground on the new building in June, with the first regular worship services there planned for the fall of 2006.

But well before Celebration Center’s doors open, the congregation wants to identify Lawrence residents on the city’s west side who might be looking to join a church.

In anticipation of the special Easter services, the church has sent out 6,000 direct-mail invitations to people in town.

And 40 church members who would normally attend Easter services downtown have signed up to participate in the services at Hereford House.

The restaurant is planning to have a special Easter buffet that will start after the 11 a.m. service is over.

Livingston said he is hopeful the combination of contemporary services, Googols of Fun for children and the Easter buffet will prove attractive to Celebration Center’s future neighbors.

“My hope is that whoever comes (to the services) will experience God and consider staying connected to First Church,” he said.