We are currently in the process of receiving Building in Faith financial commitments to pay for the new Fellowship Hall. We expect construction to begin in the near future.
Check out the pictures below from our November 8, 2015 Groundbreaking Service.
During our church conference last Wednesday evening (9/30/15), we committed to a contract for construction of our new Fellowship Hall! We approved expenditure of up to $1,500,000 for the construction project.
Construction should begin very soon! Hopefully, the dirt will start to move within four to six weeks. Lord willing, a year or so from now we will dedicate and start using a spacious and beautiful new Fellowship Hall!
Now that we have a construction contract and are preparing to move forward, you will have the opportunity to meet and interact with our builder. This Wednesday, October 7, Jeff Whittle will be with us for a 6:15 p.m. session in the Worship Center. Jeff is the President of the Ecclesia Construction.
Ekklesia is a Greek word that appears often in the New Testament. It is translated “church” in our English Bibles. Jesus said “I will build my church” that is, His ekklesia. The word means “gathering” or “congregation.” The church is God’s people gathered for His glory. Our new Fellowship Hall will be a place for God’s people, His church, to gather for His glory.
Jeff will speak with us about himself and about his business. He’ll share about how the business came about, his relationships with his employees and his professional and faith commitments. We also expect to have time for questions and answers.
Jeff will be working with us steadily for the next year or so! This will be a great time for you to get to know him and begin praying for him, his crews, and the work that is to come on our new Fellowship Hall.
Pastor Coye Still
We have completed the payoff of our Worship Center debt! Money that was going towards our monthly payments is now going into our new Fellowship Hall building fund.
On Wednesday, April 15, in a special church conference, we made two big commitments—one to start something and another to finish something.
We voted to move forward in developing the formal design for our new Fellowship Hall facility. The design process will probably take about three months or so. When the design recommendation is complete, our church family will go through another approval process after which construction will start. We don’t know yet when the first shovel of dirt will turn, but in a sense, we’ve crossed a starting line!
We’re also getting ready to cross a finish line.
In the church conference, we affirmed using funds on hand to pay in full the remaining debt on our current worship center. The payoff will probably be around $215,000. This will bring us to the end of a long road that University Hills has faithfully travelled.
I have a 2006 memo in my files from UHBC’s “A Place to Grow” Campaign Committee. This committee led the church in her first five years of giving to pay for the worship center. The memo shows that in 2006, our church had already given $808,000. At that time, we had a remaining debt of just under $1,500,000. Since 2006, we have retired nearly $1,300,000 of debt.
Now, God is enabling us to cross the finish line by finally and fully eliminating the Worship Center debt!
We’ll celebrate on a Sunday morning when the time comes. Right now, just say from a sincere heart, “To God be the glory! Great things He has done!”
Pastor Coye Still
The rebuilding committee is finalizing the concept phase of the design and kitchen needs. The committee will hopefully bring the proposal to the church by the end of the month. Below is a picture of where the building will go.
The design-build team has been assembled (architect, all engineering disciplines, site designer, and contractor) and the preliminary design phase has begun thanks to David Young. Please pray for all the decisions that will have to be made in the coming weeks and months.
The Fellowship Hall Building Committee met with several architects about construction of the new building. After a lot of careful consideration, we decided on an architect, whose company designs and builds the complete structure. We chose Ecclesia Construction Co., out of Rock Hill. This company builds churches and has built many in our area. They are familiar with our situation and will be able to help us in many aspects; including settling with the insurance company.
David Young, Todd Waits, and Leah Misner met with Jeff Whittle, from Ecclesia, last week to answer questions that Jeff had about our church. Jeff will study this information and in the next few weeks, he will have a design meeting with our entire building committee, plus other individuals who would represent various areas of the new building, such as Bible Study, Media, Building and Grounds, Kitchen, etc. After this meeting, Jeff and his team will work on a general design to present to the building committee.
We continue to ask for your prayer for this committee as we move forward.
“The insurance team has met with the adjuster and are talking costs and pay outs.
There are meetings set up with architects to figure out costs per square foot of a new building.
The building committee has met twice already and will be busy in August and September getting together plans/ideas/costs for the church about the replace of the building.”
David Young (Chair)
UHBC member since 1986
Member of Adult D Bible Study Class
David Cooke
UHBC member since 2005
Member of Adult F Bible Study Class
Jean Houston
UHBC member since 1980
Member of Adult B Bible Study Class
George Kirby
UHBC member since 2013
Member of Adult H Bible Study Class
Leah Misner
UHBC member since 2006
Leader of Pre-K II Bible Study Class
Kindra Taplin
UHBC member since 2009
Member of Adult L Bible Study Class
Todd Waits
UHBC member since 2000
Leader of 9th Grade Guys Bible Study Class
Lewis Walker
UHBC member since 1979
Leader of Adult A Bible Study Class
Rev. Mike Toney (Staff Representative)
UHBC member since 1989
Please be in prayer for this team during the planning and rebuilding of the Fellowship Hall.
On Sunday, June 8, our church family approved the following building recommendation:
The Ministry Development Team recommends that UHBC rebuild a Fellowship Hall that:
· Is large enough to accommodate Church family gatherings such as fellowship dinners and receptions
· Is flexible in design to accommodate additional Bible Study space to meet the needs of a growing Bible Study ministry
· Includes an updated, fully equipped, energy efficient kitchen
· Allows for storage space for tables, chairs, equipment, etc.
· Includes updated media/ technology capabilities
· Accommodates the ability to expand the building in the future
· Results in little to no new debt; unless agreed upon by the Church membership after intentional prayer
University Hills News 