Published: February 08, 2006 07:08 pm      

Building on Faith

Local churches growing with county's population

There’s no doubt that the City of Jackson and Butts County are rapidly growing. Just look around. Every open space that’s left in the county is being sought by someone for something. With growth coming from the North, the county is preparing to modernize its surroundings in order to hold the masses of new citizens that are expected to the area.

Including churches.

While everyone has their own opinion on who and how they should worship, there’s no disagreement between anyone that their places of worship need a little more room than they have. Understanding this, even some of Butts County’s largest churches are having to make additions in order to accommodate the overwhelming number of citizens attending service.

Macedonia Baptist Church, one of Butts County’s largest and oldest churches, has been in need of expansion for quite a while. The Stark church is undergoing the most dramatic face-lift of any in the county. A brand new 43,000-square-foot sanctuary is currently in the final stages of completion.

But, don’t expect the massive building to be used on Sundays only.

“This is going to be a magnificent building for us,” said Macedonia Pastor Mark Powell. “This building will be used for many different events. We’ll have 800 temporary seats for worship services, 500 seats and tables for events and the building will also be transformed into a full court basketball venue.”

What the new building might lack in tradition and history, it will proudly make up for in its appearance and features. Other than the 43,000 square-feet of luxury worshiping, the building will also offer 28 Bible themed classrooms for the youngsters of the church.

The adults won’t be forgotten either.

The church will have a state of the art music program with the choir’s practice room mirroring the stage they will perform on in the sanctuary.

To some, the new building may feel like having floor seats at a major concert. Or at least that will be the view, unless they have a chance to view the spectacular work of art from the balcony.

“A lot of big things are happening here,” said Powell proudly. “We have a great family and a lot of members and they’re looking forward to the move.”

Macedonia’s members won’t be moving too far to get the new building though. Actually, they should enjoy the tunnel-like path that will connect the new building to the old one. If that doesn’t satisfy them, then they should be happy to hear that the church will be adding hundreds of new parking spaces.

Now the question is how much longer do members have to wait before the building opens?

“Not long,” said Powell. “Originally we planned to be in the new building by March, but instead it’s looking like it’s going to be April or May.”

Another church looking to its future is the First Baptist Church of Jackson. The church on Highway 16 West has been in the process of building a 26,000 square-foot building directly behind the church for several months.

This will also be used as a multi-purpose venue for Pastor Stan Patterson and the congregation.

“The plans for the building were laid out before I arrived, but it’s going to be big,” said Patterson who’s been serving as the church’s pastor since November 2004. “It’s going to be a two story building with a full court gym and educational facilities as well.

Not only will First Baptist’s new building have all of that, but it will also come complete with a walking track and elevators for the elderly. Also included in the new building will be a café area.

With the new building comes the need of additional parking. So, First Baptist will also add more spaces around the premises.

Both Macedonia Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Jackson are just two of many local churches adding on for the future

Dr. Benny Tate is proud to announce the addition of a new youth facility at the Rock Springs Congregational Methodist Church in Milner. Rock Springs is the fastest growing church in the area having close to 400 people becoming members in 2005.

“We’ve been blessed,” said Tate. “We’re so proud of what God is doing here and we’re very excited about the future.”

The future of Rock Springs looks promising, too. Less than two years ago a new 1,142-seat sanctuary was built and according to Tate it’s still not enough.

“For the past three weeks we’ve been busting at the seams,” said Tate. “We’ve been pulling out chairs just to seat everyone and have had over 1,300 people in attendance.”

As for the new youth building, it is badly needed at the church. Much like First Baptist’s it will include a full court gym, café area and track. But, unlike the others Rock Spring’s track will be around the second floor of the new building.

Rock Springs will also build pavilions to accommodate the many people who show up for events such as picnics, or the annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration.

[This article is the first in a series on growth in local churches. If your church is building, or the congregation is growing by leaps and bounds, let us know. Call Chad Feltman at 770-775-3107 or e-mail him at cfeltman@jacksonprogress-argus.com.]