FBC Leeds renovates, updates building

Members of First Baptist Church, Leeds, say when Phil Smith became pastor in November 1998, the church instantly began to grow.
   
“The church as a whole has just experienced three years of good continuous growth,” minister of music and worship Chip Wise said. “Phil Smith … has really brought the church back to life. This church has definitely been in a revival.”
   
The numbers speak for themselves. Ninety-one joined in the 1998 church year, 83 in 1999, 51 in 2000 and 78 in 2001.
   
“With Brother Phil here, lots of young families with young children have joined,” said Carol Cocker, pastor’s assistant.
   
But there are other factors besides an effective pastor causing growth in the church, Wise said. The church is located one mile from interstate I-20, which brings a lot of traffic through the area. The area of Leeds has also been in a steady residential and commercial growth.
   
“With the residential growth, the church felt like the worship area was not meeting the needs of the [community],” Wise said. “This [growth] has necessitated that we expand.”
   
This expansion will be a renovation of the church’s sanctuary, which was built in the early 1970s. The pews will be refinished, reupholstered and repositioned in the sanctuary changing the previous cross formation to more of a fan shape. The stage and pulpit will be redone to meet the demands placed on the music program. Two large windows in the sanctuary will be replaced with stained glass windows, and new carpet will be laid.
   
Once the sanctuary is complete, phase two of the renovations will begin, which consists of upgrading the sound system and lighting.
   
“The sanctuary, stage area and general appearance were just not up to par with the rest of the building and definitely not up to par with what people in the community would expect the church to have,” Wise said. “The types of renovation will make the sanctuary more attractive, but it’s not simply for aesthetics; we want [the church] to be welcoming and functional.” 
   
The act of renovating the church offers members a ministry in itself. Members of the church will do most of the restoration work along with Carpenters for Christ.
   
“This will be a time for bonding, for a common goal to be met and really give people [a sense of] ownership in the church,” he said.
   
“There were 50 volunteers the first night of work and that number has continued to be steady,” Cockrell said.
  
“We feel blessed that we have this talent, and we feel that we need to be stewards of that talent,” which will also allow for members to see directly where their tithes and offerings go, Wise said.
   
The membership growth has affected the church financially, Wise said. “Giving is up, and the budget is up, above tithes. They’ve given sacrificially.” Because of this, the church will not have to take out any loans for the reconstruction.