But county leaders have made it clear traffic congestion is a problem at the church, which attracts thousands of people to this community every weekend.

At their October meeting, Johnston County Commissioners agreed to give C3 until next June to build turn lanes that will ease traffic.

In 2007, when C3 received a special-use permit to open a coffee shop and bookstore to the public, the state transportation department said it needed to build turn lanes.

When the church took no action, the county sent C3 a notice in the fall of 2008 as a reminder of the requirement, said Berry Gray, the county planning director. At the start of this year, Gray said, the church submitted construction plans to the state Department of Transportation.

The county sent another notice in the spring, Gray said. This time, he said, the notice stated that the county would revoke the church's permit for the coffee shop and bookstore if the turn lanes weren't installed.

The church had planned to wrap up construction next month, said Ken Stephenson, executive minister at C3. "We basically waited too long in the season this year," he said. "We just ran out of time, basically."

The economy has been a factor too, Stephenson said. It will cost the church almost $200,000 to build left- and right-turn lanes. The church didn't have enough money, he said.

Now, he said, church leaders are "hoping and praying" C3 will have enough money by the June deadline.

The church has had a bookstore and coffee shop since it opened in 1998. But they weren't open to the public until the church got the special-use permit 10 years later.

It's not the bookstore and coffee shop that are causing slowdowns in traffic. Since they opened, business has been pretty slow during the week, Stephenson said.

The weekend brings another story. About 750 people usually attend C3's Saturday service, and another 1,200 to 1,500 usually go to the two Sunday services, Stephenson said.

County Commissioner Jeff Carver said he's heard lots of complaints from people about traffic in the area. "People call every week about church and traffic congestion," he said.

Allen Mims, the only commissioner who voted against the time extension, said he'd also heard complaints. "It's not fair to other people that are going to church, a smaller church, and they get tied up in traffic," he said.

Stephenson said he's not aware of the church getting complaints about traffic.

But he said the church realizes the road needs widening.

"We want to the turn lanes in," he said. "We recognize that the turn lanes need to go in."