Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
It was this scripture verse that Youth Pastor John-Michael McCormick clung to during the entire development and planning process of the new Discipleship Building at Central Baptist Church. It was well understood that the church was in need of more space, but McCormick says that casting a clear vision for a space that could adequately capture the needs of the church was a bit of a challenge.
“I remember we had started with the idea of a portable classroom,” recalls McCormick, “or a metal building with roll up doors, but those ideas snowballed into a much bigger idea.”
The plans ballooned into plans for a two-story building that included classroom space for Sunday School lessons, bathrooms and even a modest kitchen. Once the plans were more concrete, McCormick said the rest came down to faith.
“God's hands were all over this project since the beginning,” he says, “as we know God's timing is always better than our timing. Yes, we continued to trust Him in the height of inflation, we continued to move forward in faith. We knew we had enough money to get started, and so we began the construction in January of 2022.”
In December, just under a year after the project began, construction on the new building, which has been named the Discipleship Building, has finally been completed. McCormick says the project was made possible by a lot of help from contractors that are current members of the church, as well as two separate anonymous donations of $50,000. In addition to these generous contributions, there were several contractors that donated materials, man-hours and their personal free time in order to complete the new building.
“Having faith, even if it was as small as a mustard seed, was more than enough to see God guide us through this project,” said McCormick.
Central Baptist Church is located near Aucilla Christian Academy at 625 Tindell Rd. They began their youth ministry in 2015 with a small, weekly gathering of five to ten teenagers in the back corner of the main church building. Just two years later, the church had to tear down a wall to make room to accommodate the growing number of attending teenagers. By 2019, the weekly attendance for youth ministry had grown to an average of 30-40 teenagers, and the youth ministry began having to meet in the fellowship hall. In the years that followed, the youth ministry has continued to grow, and they now hold a worship service of 50-60 teenagers every Wednesday night.
The completion of this building will enable the youth ministry to adequately and comfortably accommodate their ever-growing church body. This building, which is roughly 4,000 sq. ft. in size, divided between the two floors, will not only be used for multiple classrooms, but also includes a large, open floor area downstairs, where the members of the church can gather to worship together. This will make services at the church much more comfortable for the congregation.
Central Baptist Church holds the following services:
Sunday Services:
Outside Service under the Oak Tree: 9:30 a.m.
Sunday School: 10:15 a.m.
Sanctuary Service: 11 a.m.
Wednesday Services:
Adult Bible Study & Potluck Meal: 6:45 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall
Youth Group (6-12 grade): Food and Fellowship starts at 6 p.m.
John-Michael McCormick and his wife, Jessica, have been leading the youth ministry at Central Baptist Church since 2015. Pastor Daryl Adams is currently the Pastor.
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