Church of the Resurrection – Leawood Campus

You’ve most likely seen the stunning sanctuary building at Church of the Resurrection’s Leawood Campus while driving south on Highway 69 in Overland Park. The building is hard to miss with its large steel shell and beautiful oversized stained-glass window. An interesting fact about this church is that it houses the largest Methodist congregation in the United States! Needless to say, there are mass quantities of people that flow through its doors.

“The landscape is the first thing our guests notice when arriving on site,” says Brian Hayne, Groundskeeper at Church of the Resurrection (Resurrection). “It needs to be a place that looks maintained and cared for. It has to be welcoming to our guests.” Aside from guests, the church’s employees really appreciate the blooms and wildlife the landscape offers, often excitedly snapping photos and talking about what sparked their interest.

With its large presence in the community, a priority for the church is that its grounds always look carefully maintained and very well cared for, especially for events. This is where Brian and his staff team up with Signature Landscape. The relationship between Signature and the church is very unique – the two entities work as a team to ensure the best possible grounds maintenance for the property. Signature performs the mowing, fertilizing, weed control, and mulching. Resurrection provides bed maintenance and tree trimming. Signature provides grounds maintenance for three of the four church campuses, and they also perform work for the fourth campus when the need arises. The campuses range from 2-77 acres, with the Leawood campus being the largest at 77 acres.

The Leawood campus is set apart from other churches in the area by its architectural grandeur, large-scale stained-glass window, and very diverse landscape. The landscape features a prayer walk, memorial gardens, native prairie grass area, and water features. Many of the church’s events such as summer camps, Vacation Bible School, and their annual fall conference utilize the outdoor landscape. Chris Carter, Signature’s Account Manager dedicated to Resurrection, works diligently with Brian to ensure all mowing, irrigation, and other landscaping needs are always taken care of in time for these events. This is a complex joint effort in communication. Because of the event information Resurrection gives Signature ahead of time, Signature’s Production Managers can plan and schedule to efficiently and successfully complete all tasks in a timely manner. “It all comes down to planning ahead, partnership, and communication,” says Chris, “it’s satisfying when things work properly, and we’ve always been successful.”

When hiring a vendor, Brian values customer service most. “Pricing is always important to us, but we also need someone who cares about our property. We get approached every year about bidding out our services, but no one has ever been able to promise the same level of care and service.” Chris and Signature’s team easily meet that requirement. Their pride in serving this organization shines through in everything they do for Church of the Resurrection. Signature considers it an honor to serve this beautiful property that contributes so much to the surrounding community.