— — After failing to construct a new place of worship on the site of a low-income housing project in Wheatfield, the Payne Avenue Christian Church has returned to its North Tonawanda roots and will celebrate this Sunday.

The congregation sold its original church at Payne Avenue and Wheatfield Street in North Tonawanda in 2006 and adopted a new name “The Church at Shawnee Landing” with a mission to establish a new campus offering affordable housing, human services, day care and a new house of worship on Shawnee Road in the Town of Wheatfield.

The church partnered with Belmont Shelter Corporation and Buffalo businessman Paul Granville to develop The Town Homes at Shawnee Landing, a 64-unit complex offering apartments for lower income individuals and families along with senior citizens.

The complex was completed in 2007 and is fully occupied. However, the rising costs of construction precluded the completion of the church and a day care center at the Shawnee Road site.

 Late last year, the church agreed to purchase the former St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church complex on Payne Avenue in North Tonawanda — the same street it had called home for nearly 80 years. The church has also reclaimed its historic name of Payne Avenue Christian Church.

The church will celebrate its return to North Tonawanda with a 10 a.m. worship service, followed by a Chiavetta chicken barbecue on Sunday at its new home, 1459 Payne Ave. The public is invited and meals will be offered for a donation of $7.50.

“We have been tested with all kinds of delays, disappointments and difficulties over the past decade,” said Pastor Jerry McGlone. “But our congregation never lost faith, and we kept forging ahead.”

At the time it was proposed, the Shawnee Landing project attracted heavy criticism from residents of nearby Demler and Klemer roads who feared the housing would attract problems and extra traffic. Town officials initially fought against the project but later approved needed zoning changes.

Last year, Wheatfield’s Planning Board ruled that revisions to the church plan required that the site plan review process would need to be restarted. The congregation later announced it had scrapped plans to build the new church in Wheatfield and was seeking to purchase the former St. Joseph Church on Payne Avenue.

“The challenges have made us smarter, more determined, and ever more certain that we chose wisely,” said Church Moderator for Development Vic Baker.  “We never thought our journey would bring us home to North Tonawanda, but we have been led here for a reason, and we believe this is the best of all possible outcomes.”