GARFIELD — The First Baptist Church of Garfield broke ground on a new 60- by 120-foot student/ multi-purpose building which will facilitate the iGnite student ministries and serve as a recreation/ fellowship facility for the entire church. The building will include a state-of-theart audio/visual system for worship and other activities. A commercial kitchen is included.
There will be loft inside the building for a place of fellowship and recreation/ fun activities such as video gaming, foosball and pool for youth.
“We simply have run outof room for our current student ministries which often includes upward to 70 students and workers,” pastor Jack Maddox said. “We had to provide a place for our youth and at the same time improve our capacity to fellowship as a church family.”
The addition will allow the church to also remodel the current children’s ministry area shared with the junior and senior high school students and provide better facilities for the AWANA children’s ministry.
The building will also be used to house mission teams from all over the country who come tonorthwest Arkansas for short-term mission work.
In addition, the church will make it available for disaster housing during times of need, such as ice storms and circumstances where folks need a place to stay or shelter during emergency situations.
“We hope this will be a great place of ministry to our community,” Maddox said.
The building is expected to be complete by February of 2012.
“One of the most exciting aspects of the program is that the building will be constructed without incurring any debt,” Maddox said.
Church, Pages 2 on 08/17/2011