Shoveling Dirt and Praying for Blessings

Well friends, we are about to hit another milestone in our building project. Our groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for May 19th at 12:30. Miller Brothers Construction, along with several special guests, will be at our old site to formally kick off construction.

Let me briefly summarize how we got to this place. It was in November of 2016 that Grace Shamblin asked me if the church had ever considered selling the ballfield. Her question led to a vision of what could be. We began a long process of prayerful discernment to see where God was leading us.

It was in December of 2017 that Brightview Senior Living expressed an interest in buying a portion of our land. After a series of congregational meetings, the church council voted 11-0 to move forward with the Brightview proposal.

At a business meeting on September 30, 2018, the church voted 66-2 to sell 5 acres of our land to Brightview. We selected a building committee and hired Elkins-Ramirez as our architects.

In March of 2020 the world was hit with the Covid-19 pandemic. Construction plans were put on hold. However, in December of that year, we choose Miller Brothers as our construction company.

During most of 2021, we were searching for a temporary site for our church and preschool to meet during construction. The search led to multiple dead ends. Brightview estimated that construction of their building would begin in October of 2022, so we planned for the last service in the old building to be September 25, 2022.

In February of 2022 Mount Vernon United Methodist Church agreed to rent us space for the church and preschool. The preschool opened at the temporary location in September, but delays in obtaining permits caused Brightview to delay the start of their project nine months. We began the arduous task of cleaning out the old building.

Demolition of the old building began in June of 2023. The entire building was gone by July 14 and construction began on the Brightview building. By the spring of 2024 the exterior of the building was almost completed. Just a few weeks ago Miller Brothers gave us the green light for groundbreaking ceremony.

As you can see, this has been a long journey that has taken eight years just to get to the starting line! We have much to do in the next year as we prepare for the next chapter in our church’s history. I hope you can join me on May 19th as we shovel some dirt and pray for God’s blessing.