As we near the completion of our construction and renovation project, we’re excited to share our new and updated buildings with you. We’ll be scheduling tours in small groups over several days beginning Wednesday, May 27. We’re taking special care to limit group sizes to ensure that we can maintain appropriate social distancing and so that you’ll have easy access to our guides to ask questions as they share information about the project. Sign up here.

These photos, taken for the virtual Easter egg hunt, show the new fellowship hall and kitchen.

A week into April the parking, playground, and porte cochere are coming together.

March 28, 2020 – Workers have entered the home stretch, as seen from West Broad Street.
March 28, 2020 – The Spring Street Porte Cochere
March 28, 2020 – The playground is taking shape.

These photos taken March 17, 2020 show construction continuing.

We’re moving into the final stages of the building project and are moving full speed ahead with plans for a great Dedication Sunday celebration on April 19. In addition to putting the finishing touches on the exterior of the new building, we expect much of the finishing work on the interior of the building to be completed by the end of March.

We continue to make good progress in our renovated and expanded children’s ministry spaces, and over the next few weeks work crews will continue to install new paint and carpet in much of the existing building as well. The final pieces of this project will happen outside with landscaping, driveways, and sidewalks being completed—along with some adjustments to our Broad St. sanctuary entrances.

If that sounds like a lot to accomplish, it is. But our professional teams continue to give us confidence that we’re on track to hit our target dates. Please continue to remember the ongoing project in your prayers as we work through these last critical weeks together. And make sure you have April 19 circled on your calendars. The celebration will include a dedication ceremony during the Sunday School hour, a catered lunch after the 10:55 service, a church-wide photo opportunity, and a first chance to tour all of our new ministry spaces.

These pictures were taken February 29, 2020.

Stained glass windows removed from the sanctuary decades ago have been restored and installed at the Broad Street entry.The architects did a wonderful job making the new building’s appearance compatible with the style of the original sanctuary.The porto cochere on Spring Street will make dropoffs and pickups very convenient.

We really are getting close to finishing our building project! Now, though, is when we need your prayers the most. We want everything to go as smoothly between now and Easter as it has gone thus far, and we know that your prayers will help.

During February, you’ll see increased work in our existing building as sprinkler systems are installed, doorways and stairwells are reworked, and connecting points with the new building are completed. It will also be a busy month in the old fellowship hall as work accelerates in our new and expanded children’s spaces. Also this month, exterior finishes like cast stone and stucco will be completed, stained glass windows will be installed, and detail work at all of our exterior entrances will continue. Inside the building, we’re getting really close to having finish materials installed—things like cabinetry and light fixtures and flooring and paint.

It’s amazing how far we’ve come in just the last year! We still have some work to do, but we’re almost there. Dedication Sunday is April 19. Mark your calendars now. We can’t wait to celebrate with you as we launch all that we’ve been dreaming about and building together.

These photos were taken on February 3. In the first photo, workers continue to apply exterior finishes.The Brown Street Vestibule will be a gathering place.Stacks of LED light fixtures await installation in the fellowship hall.Students will love the new youth space.Work is underway to convert the old fellowship hall to children’s space.

In the photo above, taken from Spring Street on January 15, you can see the progress being made on the outside of the building.

In less than 90 days we should be ready to start moving in! We’ve made great progress, but we still have much to accomplish in these last three months. On the exterior of the building, the cast stone work at the base of the building is mostly complete, and stucco installation has begun. We also have nearly all of our windows and doors installed and expect stained glass windows to be here early in February. This week, all of the final adjustments to our landscaping and playground areas are being made and materials are being ordered.

Inside the building, kitchen equipment continues to be installed, sheetrock continues to go up, and we expect lighting and ceiling installation to begin very soon. After that, we’ll be ready to start the installation of finish materials like flooring and paint. You’ll also see continued work around where the new building connects with the existing building as rooms and hallways get adjusted slightly to accommodate new traffic flows. We’ll also be adding a sprinkler system to many areas of the existing building.

Finally, last week, additional plumbing was installed and the new layout for our expanded children’s area was marked out on the concrete slab of the old fellowship hall. In the next several weeks new wall studs will go up and our updated children’s ministry area will really start to take shape.

As we begin the new year together, please continue to remember this project in your prayers. Pray specifically that God will use our new spaces to form us into more faithful followers and to reach new people with the message of Christ.

As we reach the end of 2019 it has been an eventful year of construction. Just last January we broke ground on our project with little more than a pile of dirt. By the end of the year we can expect our new building to be well on its way to completion. Before the holiday break, you can expect to see continued progress on our exterior finishes, particularly the cast stone block that encircles the base of the building. Also outside, we’re not far from taking the next steps to move forward on curbing, driveways, sidewalks and parking. Inside, kitchen equipment is beginning to be installed as wiring, insulation, duct work, and drywall installation nears completion. Soon we’ll start to see finish materials being installed in many of our interior spaces. In addition, the remodeling of our expanded children’s ministry area continues. The existing fellowship hall is now just a shell as we prepare for a new layout and updated, childappropriate finishes. None of what we’ve accomplished in 2019 would be possible without your prayerful support and patient enthusiasm. Please continue to remember this project in your prayers, praying particularly that God will use our new ministry spaces to advance Christ’s work in this community.

In the photo below, taken December 14, you can see the progress in installing the cast stone block around the base of the building.

On Monday, November 25, the Cauthen-Cole Sunday School class provided a Thanksgiving meal to construction workers to thank them for their hard work. This was the first meal served in the new fellowship hall. Since there is no kitchen equipment yet, the meal was brought in from Town and Country and class members made desserts.

Workers enjoy their Thanksgiving lunch.

After years of creating marvelous meals in a cramped, inadequate kitchen, our volunteer cooks will be overjoyed by the ample space of the new kitchen.

Progress on the new youth space continues on the top floor. Wow!

As November got underway, interior and exterior progress continued on the new building. In the old building, the fellowship hall was gutted so the metamorphosis into new children’s space could begin.

This photo, taken November 6, shows the new state-of-the-art fellowship hall.
The church has lacked a casual gathering area or foyer. This is being remedied by the Brown Street Vestibule (following photo 11-06-2019), connecting the old and new buildings.

Meanwhile, in the old building, the finishes of the old fellowship hall have been stripped out so that the work can begin to construct new children’s space (photo below 11-07-2019).

We got a formal timeline update from our construction professionals in mid-October, and we continue to be on schedule to hit our target completion dates next spring. Over the next several weeks, here’s what you can expect to see happening around the job site:

• Continued work with heavy timber framing around the gathering vestibule and the porte cochere.
• The first exterior “finish” materials will be installed as the lower levels of cast stone go on the building.
• Shingles will go on the roof and the roof will be completed.
• Much of the interior utility and mechanical work will be completed.

In addition, in a few weeks, the existing elevator vestibule will be demolished, opening the elevator into the new, larger gathering vestibule. We will have continuous access to the elevator as that work is done, and, for our safety, the elevator will continue to be cordoned off from the larger construction site.

Please keep the building project in your prayers as we seek to use all that God has blessed us with to better serve our community and God’s kingdom.

As we’re into late September, the building is on schedule. Progress is being made on the exterior walls, the roof system, and the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems.
In this photo taken September 25, we’re looking from the old building across the Brown Street Vestibule into the new building.Windows look out on the recreation area. (Photo taken 09-18-2019)

August was another good month of progress on our building project. Much of the mechanical, plumbing, and electrical work has been completed. As we move through September we can expect to see the roof completed, windows going in, sheetrock being installed, and continued work to connect the new building to our existing buildings. The project continues to be on schedule and within budget. We’ve collected more than $7 million dollars toward the project so far and continue to have cash on hand to pay the considerable expenses associated with this phase of construction. As we start to look toward the finish line, however, we still have considerable work to do. Your gifts at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020—both to fulfill pledges and in addition to pledged giving— will determine whether we need to borrow money to complete this project and whether we’ll carry any debt going forward. We are becoming even more excited about what this new building will mean for our church and for our Christian witness in this community as we become more familiar with the details of the finished project. You’re going to be excited, too. We can’t wait for you to see how it all comes together! Representatives from our facilities planning team, our capital campaign team, and from Headley Construction provided a church-wide update and took questions during Bible study time on Wednesday, September 11.Photo taken from Broad Street 09/04/2019. The inset shows a bit of the HVAC and plumbing that has been completed.

We continue to make great progress on the new addition. We’ve started the process of connecting the new building to our existing buildings. That process will continue as we work to get the whole project under roof. We hope to have the roof work complete by the end of August. At the same time, all kinds of HVAC, electrical and plumbing work will continue throughout the month, along with the installation of new stairwells and some continued exterior framing for places like the Porte Cochere and Gathering Vestibule. As our construction teams work, we have church teams busy at work as well. Our furnishings committee is actively working in coordination with our staff to begin the process of selecting and ordering all of the new furniture and decorative items that will be needed to make our new spaces complete— and to make them feel like Central. Please continue to remember the building project and capital campaign in your prayers. They’re working! We couldn’t have dreamed of being in a better position at this point in the process than we are right now.

Photo taken from Spring Street 08-07-2019

Interior photo taken 08-13-2019

Photo taken from Broad Street 07-24-2019

As surely you’ve noticed, we made GREAT progress on the building in June. With the steel structure complete and concrete poured on the second level, the project moves forward with three priorities for July.

First, the interior wall framing will begin to take shape as you see metal studs go up inside the building. Second, in the next few weeks you’ll begin to see roof beams being placed to tie the new building to the existing one. And third, the construction team will begin working to get the whole project under roof.

We’ve enjoyed great weather recently and hope the clear skies continue. Please continue to keep the project and those working on it in your prayers as we continue to build on our past and build for our future.From Broad Street July 9 (above) and Spring Street July 14 (below)