BAKER — With an increasing church attendance, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church is adding a new church building.
The church recently broke ground for a new 12,000-square-foot facility, which will include a new sanctuary that can seat 700 and additional rooms for the church’s preschool and nursery programs.
Rev. Geoff Prows said construction is expected to begin in late November.
With the sanctuary’s current seating capacity of 220, Pilgrim Rest currently has two Sunday morning services to accommodate church members, he said.
Prows said the goal is to have the building project complete by July. Upon completion, Prows hopes to go back to one Sunday morning worship service.
Discussion of building a new sanctuary has been in development prior to Prows' arrival in December of last year.
In August, the church’s congregation unanimously voted to move forward with constructing the new building.
“We are not only having issues (with space) for Sunday School, we are also having issues in our Sunday worship service, which are good problems to have, but long term you have to have a plan for it,” Prows said.
To put the church’s growth into perspective, Prows said 72 members joined the church last year and 75 members joined this year.
The second Sunday worship service at 11 a.m. averages 300, he said.
Should the church continue to grow beyond the 700 seating capacity, the building’s layout allows for the new sanctuary's expansion with a seating capacity of 1,400 and additional classroom space.
In addition to crediting Pilgrim Rest’s congregation and children and youth ministries for the continued growth, Prows said it is the church’s community presence that makes it unique.
“A lot of it is ‘word of mouth’…this is the most giving church in regards to helping people in need,” Prows said. “It’s great to see God work in our community.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church to add new church building due to attendance growth