A special service was held Feb. 21 at Mountain Springs Baptist Church in Piedmont to dedicate a new church building.
Guest speaker was Jim Austin, executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Pastor Tracy Ivester led the church in the dedication service.
The new facility consists of a worship center with a capacity of 350, a kitchen and a two-story educational building that includes children and youth activity rooms and offices. The building was designed by Neal Prince Architects and constructed by Cely Construction.
One-hundred-fifty years ago, a group of people began to hold worship services in a small schoolhouse located by the natural spring on Mountain Springs Road. In 1860, the believers constituted as Mountain Springs Baptist Church. In 1878, the church members built their first sanctuary, which was destroyed by fire in 1941 and rebuilt.
In 1968, a new sanctuary was built. In 2002, the church once again grew beyond its facilities. Members purchased 15 acres of land across the street and paid off the debt by 2006. On June 1, 2008, the church held a groundbreaking ceremony. On Jan. 10 of this year, church members began worship in the old facility and then marched up to the new building and completed their worship in the new worship center.
“God has blessed Mountain Springs since its beginning and continues to do so today with a new facility that will enable the people to reach out even more into the community to share his gospel,” pastor Ivester said.