Down the winding Gap Creek Road in Travelers Rest sits a beautiful, 320-seat sanctuary that will serve as the new facility for Gap Creek Baptist Church within the next year. This new building rests across the street from the current one, which seats only 120 and is nearly 80 years old. More space is needed for the 140 members, who average roughly 85-90 in attendance on Sundays.
“It took us 10 years to get started on the project. We began the fund in 1994, and on July 4, 2004, the church voted to begin building. In those 10 years, we raised $600,000 and borrowed only $350,000,” said Brett Tankersley, chairman of the building committee at the church. “It’s been really amazing to see. One day you think, ‘Man, we really need the money to do this,’ and the next day it begins to happen.”
It all began to happen with the help of volunteers. The church project is about 75 percent complete, and 70 percent has been done at the hands of volunteers.
“Bob Salley does an excellent job lining up all of our volunteers,” said Tankersley. “There are three groups of volunteers coming this summer. The second group, down from Maryland, begins mid-July, and the third group, Florence Hoffmeyer Baptist, arrives in August.”
The first group, from First Baptist Church, Trussville, Ala., and headed up by Bob Wood, worked during the month of June. This was their 24th year of volunteer service as “Men on Mission,” which is represented by about eight to 10 churches.
“Primarily what we do is framing,” said Wood. “This year, we came to work on interiors. Today, we have 79 volunteers. We originally noticed the need for volunteers from the North American Mission Board, which coordinates volunteer assistance.”
Other than the 320-seat sanctuary, the church houses Sunday school rooms, a baptistry and offices upstairs. Downstairs are the fellowship hall and kitchen. Behind the new building is a field which will one day house a recreation center and gym.
“The church sends a lot of gratitude to all of the volunteers,” said Tankersley. “They saved us tens of thousands of dollars, and we wouldn’t have been able to have a building like this if it wasn’t for them. It’s been amazing to see God give us what we need, including a van from the Trussville group.”
“Whenever we do this, one of the outstanding things is meeting new people and forming new friendships,” said Wood. “We get more out of this than people might realize. This is our third trip up here to work on this building, and a lot of us consider it a highlight of the year. The volunteers are on vacation from work. They pay $175 to come and work, and, other than the tools that the church provides, they provide everything else.”
Soon the winding road will lead to a new sanctuary for Gap Creek Baptist and area residents.
“There are about 1,800 people who live up here,” said Tankersley, “and our main goal is to reach the community.”