By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



Construction on Gardendale First Baptist Church’s new worship center is in full swing after officials announced the church had closed on a $25.4 million loan.

The new 104,000 square foot worship center, to be located adjacent to the Fieldstown Road Road and Mt. Olive Boulevard exits on Interstate 65 north, will sit on 145 acres of land. Completion of the center could take 12 to 14 months.

The building of the new church has been years in the making. Increased membership at the church has caused parking issues at the current campus on Main Street and forced the church to hold three services to accommodate a bigger flock.

Currently, the church offers three Sunday morning worship services — 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m. — to accommodate the 3,500 who attend.

The new worship center will have seating for 2,700, reducing the number of services to just two at 9 and 10:45 a.m.

During Sunday services, church pastor Dr. Kevin Hamm shared sketches of the new worship center with church members and offered updates on the progress of project.

“We’ve been on this journey for quite some time, and they’ve been there with us,” Hamm said on Monday. “Sometimes you see or hear of other projects that get started and never get finished. This one is going to happen.”

Associate Pastor of Administration De Allen said several factors came together to help bring the project this far, including the church’s accelerated plan to payoff existing debt. He said the current church is now paid off and the loan for the new church could be paid off within 10 years.

“Over the period of the last seven or eight years, we haven’t done capital campaigns,” Allen said. “With our previous pastor (Dr. Steve Gaines) and now with Pastor Kevin, we’ve stressed tithing biblically. A lot of that debt is paid off.”

Once the new loan is paid off, church leaders may then look at selling the Main Street campus. Until then, both sites will be used to accommodate the many programs offered by the church.

“At some point, it will make sense for us to sell the (old) campus,” Hamm said. “When you’ve been here for so long, it’s hard to build everything in one phase.”

Executive Pastor Mark Harrison said members will drive back and forth between the two campuses to attend Bible studies and worship services until the new campus can implement Bible study classes. He said the one exception will be senior citizens, who will be able to have Bible studies at the new center.

Once the new location is completed, it will represent the third move for the church. The church has been at 940 Main Street since the 1960s and was located across the street prior to that.

Church member Jim Kendrick is one of only several church members who will have attended services at all three locations when the new worship center opens.

“I’m behind them 99 percent,” he said. “If we can build it and if it’s the Lord’s will, that’s fine by me.”

The new church is being constructed by Brasfileld & Gorrie, which also completed infrastructure on the sewer, electric and telephone utilities last year. Concrete footings have been poured and the parking lot for the church is also complete.

Allen said some in the community may question why the church is spending so much money to build the church during a time of recession. However, he said now is the perfect time to build because the recession means cheaper construction costs.

“Just in the last six months, we’ve seen a $1 million drop in the cost of the project,” he said. “If you have a financial plan in place, there’s not been a better time to build. We know God’s timing is perfect.”

Hamm said despite the cost or the size of the project, the new church is less about the building and more about what can be accomplished through having a new facility.

“We’re limited in the tools we have here because we can’t park them and seat them,” he said. “If we can’t park them and seat them, we can’t reach, touch, bless or impact them. The building is just a tool for us to share the Gospel.”