South Florence Baptist Church had a Pre-Construction Project meeting on January 9, 2007. The main purpose of this meeting was to establish chain of command and communications. Al Melton will be the representative for South Florence Baptist Church. Any question about new church project should be addressed to Al Melton. Monthly meeting with the architect, owner, and contractor will be held the last Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. Steve Weatherly is the superintendent for Gilbert Construction for this project. He is on the job each day and seems to be doing a good work.
Safety is a very important priority. We want our congregation to help by not going on the new site project and keeping children away from the work site. Please look from the road and present church building to see progress. There will be several hard hat tours of the site later on. Let's all be careful.
Work is going well, sitework is done, undergound is in, and foundations are going up now. We are on schedule and everyone seems to be happy.
God is so good and generous to us. His church is growing strong. It's all about Him! Praise God from Whom all blessing flow!
(4-10-07) We had about a three-week delay in work on our new church because the steel beams didn't arrive on schedule. The shipment of steel beams came in and the work began to be seen. It is amazing how fast the structure is going up. We are still holding close the December date of completion. It may be January 2008 because of the delay in steel. With no further delays we should see some great gains in the weeks ahead. The electricians have been working hard to run lines to the new work site. They have installed new lines from the old mens bathroom to the utility room across from the pastor's office. We are waiting for the State Fire Marshall to give us word to begin the renovating of the exiting fellowship hall on the carpet side. Kevin Almers is working to help dissolve this part of the process.
The New Furnishing Committee has been at work these last serveral weeks. Getting women and men to agree on color and style is a very delicate job. We are making progress. In a few weeks we hope to have a sample of pew patterns and carpets for the congregation to choose. We will present three options for the congregation to choose from. Please be patient and pray as you choose the color scheme for our pews and carpet. This is one of the hardest task a committee could work on. We must look for what the church wants and not what we want personally.
We have chosen the brick style. Bricks have been delivered and are ready to be laid. We have the steeple ordered and it is ready to be delivered. There are many more decisions to be made through the other committees. We are so blessed to have good Godly people serving in these positions. Browse through the pictures below to see the progress we are making.
(4-25-07) The South Florence Baptist Church Subcontractor Project Meeting was held April 24, 2007. The Electric Service has changed out the panels and installed the new ones in the supply room across from Pastor's office. Framers have completed their job and the trusses are being put up. It is a complicated work to put up trusses. Building should be dried in by second week in May. The heating and air condition units are ready to be installed. We are still waiting on inspection of steel. The demo of the existing church will begin May 1. The demo consists of tearing out and restructuring a new hallway and classrooms from the parking lot through the fellowship hall connecting to the new church. The Sprinkler system drawings are ready to submit to state for approval. We were one month ahead of schedule but had to wait on steel. We are back on schedule and need to work harder to get back ahead.
Our committees are hard at work trying to choose color schemes for the church to vote on. We have the job of choosing pews, stains, fabric, and carpet, outside trimming, glass, and tile. Please pray we will contuinue to work in unity. The new church project is going well and we are making great strides in the completion of our task.
(7-16-07) Our new church project is about sixty percent complete. The construction crew is busy at work each day. The sound technician is getting ready to install the cables and wire for the lights, video, sound board and speakers. The stained glass window of Jesus Sowing Seeds in a field has been ordered. The baptismal pool is in place and the stairs to the upper rooms for changing are in progress. The heating and air condition are progressing to about fifty percent completion. The new entrance to the new church is looking good. The curbing has been formed and the layout is ready for the grass and shrubs. The outside of our new church is taking shape and looking good. In just a few more weeks we should see the stained glass windows from our present church being installed in the new church baptismal bay windows. It's a great day in the life of South Florence Baptist Church.
(7-31-07) Gilbert Construction, Collins & Associates, Al Melton and Jeffery Allen met on July 31 at 10:00am to discuss progress with new church projects. HVAC is coming along at a good pace. Pressure test have been taken and ductwork seems to be installed properly. The ceramic tile for hallways and baptistery have been chosen. There will be a dark pattern in the vestibule and welcome center with the grout being the same dark color.
We are still waiting for carpet samples and pew fabric to show our people. There will be two patterns and the church will choose one pattern to be installed. Pews are white with dark cherry finish. We are actively pursuing a color scheme for the entire project.
The rooms are taking shape as the workers hang sheetrock. The entrance to the new welcome center is closed in with glass doors and a drop off. Cement curbs and side walks are under construction. The awnings to the church entrances are no longer seen; they have been removed.
We welcome our friends and neighbors to come visit with us. Come see what the Lord is doing! There's a great work in progress. Many people will come to know Jesus as a result of this new church project.
Just for Jesus,
Pastor Allen
