The Baptist church has gone through many repairs over the years. When we first constructed the building back in 1956, it was put up with a concrete foundation, brick walls, and a shingle roof. The masonry wasn’t very strong though because we had a hurricane hit the coast and the winds tore some of the bricks and façade right off the side of the structure. The shingling was falling off, but the foundation was untouched. From the outside, It wasn’t a great look. Members of the congregation rallied together to raise more than $83,374 over a 3-month period by hosting local fundraising events and inviting powerful members of the city council. James Reed, owner and member of the board of directors was so grateful for the donations the church received that he started his own campaign and personally provided another $45,000. The church then took more than $120K and revamped the entire building from top to bottom. Experienced roofing contractors from TV installed a brand new EPDM roofing system with a photovoltaic solar array. The PV solar panels connected to the electrical system in the building to use for lighting. Interestingly enough, putting in the solar panels actually made the organization eligible for a state government grant that provided a $10,000 supplemental payment as a thank you for pushing for “green” energy solutions. Also, as a side-note, switching from standard electricity to solar power dropped the church’s monthly electric bill to around $90, which is nothing for the size of it. Now, during the winters, the church uses less energy that it collects, so it sends power back to the grid and earns money. We never would have known that without the help of some graduate students at the local college who just happened to be doing a sustainability research paper on solar powered churches; it was very apropos.

After redoing the roof, the board of directors changed their focus to the walls. They hired an experienced masonry and brickwork company from two towns over to redo the exterior of the building  with slate and stone. The stone coloring was a dark bluish gray with earth-tone shades of brown and beige worked in. It looked beautiful from the outside.

Inside the building, the contractors updated:

• Wood paneling inside the common area
• Light blue, relaxing shades of paint for the common area and celebratory rooms
• Brand new bathrooms upstairs and downstairs
• 50 remodeled pews with extra cushion for kneeling during mass
• An expanded religious office near the back entrance with a glass desk, comfy office chair, and a Dell XPS computer (which was very modern for this group of pastors)
• New statues, utensils, silverware, chalices, drapery, and linens
• $3,567 in seasonal décor to spruce up the look on major events like the Easter vigil, and religious service on Christmas

We are very thankful for the wonderful members of the MCBC congregation and cannot be more proud to be part of this outstanding community.

Above is a picture from the leadership summit in North Carolina. Our local pastors drove 16 hours to be at this event, learn from the latest teaching methods, worship, and accept an award for their fundraising efforts. Please join me in congratulating Amy Wilson, Tim Swanthason, Michelle Parlow, and James Lakrey for their undeniable hard work in pushing the agenda of the church.