Members broke ground for a 66,000-square-foot facility Jan. 27 by pulling ropes tied to a disk plow.Some churches turn over a spade full of dirt when they break ground for a new worship center. Members of Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church, Moore, turned over a plow.
Artist’s rendering of the future Anderson Mill Road facility.Grabbing hold of ropes that were tethered to a tractor disk plow, the congregation officially launched the construction Jan. 27 of a 66,000-square-foot facility as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. The $8.5 million facility will include a sanctuary, educational space and a children’s wing.
“We have been at capacity for more than a year,” said executive pastor Kevin Harrison, noting that Anderson Mill Road currently provides three services and three Sunday school sessions.
“Our new facility will allow us an opportunity to have up to 2,250 worshippers on a given Sunday,” Harrison added. The project’s completion date is March 2009.
Holding up his own son Micah as a representative of the congregation’s children, senior pastor D.J. Horton, who led the groundbreaking ceremony, declared, “This is who it is for.” Horton and the members of the growing Moore congregation anticipate that the new facility will carry them through the next six to eight years, when they expect to begin another construction phase.
Sara LoudermilkFounding member Sara Loudermilk shared her testimony during the 20th anniversary service. Other speakers included Blake Loudermilk, Harold Brock, Frances Genoble and Jim Cantrell.
In their zest, members pulled so hard that the plow turned over as senior pastor D.J. Horton, far right, and executive pastor Kevin Harrison, far left, cheer.