Pledged to the vision “To Restore God’s Ideal,” the First Church of God family will launch construction this weekend on the first Sunday of Spring to build a new campus building and ministry center in the Benton Heights neighborhood on N. Euclid Avenue.
It was nine years ago that the First Church family absorbed the former Benton Heights Church of God in 2010, and now they will erect a new 9,000 square foot building at 990 N. Euclid Avenue, with Lead Pastor David Colp saying, “This is probably the only new construction in Benton Heights in the past 30 years.” Colp adds, “We feel God calling us to do ministry in this neighborhood.”
Ceremonies on Sunday include a formal ground breaking event at 12:30 in the afternoon following the Sunday worship service. Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce will host the formal ceremonies and assist in the event.
The 9000- square-foot building with a gymnasium will house Sunday worship services for the First Church – Benton Heights Campus, as well as activities throughout the week. Colp notes, “In addition to a larger space for the growing congregation, a key use of this building will be as a tool for the community.” The Pastor says, “We are dreaming about any number of ways to serve the community such as basketball and volleyball leagues, after-school reading programs, exercise classes and community forums. This will be a space we would love to see help the entire Benton Heights community.”
First Church of God, with locations in St. Joseph and Stevensville, has had a presence in Benton Heights since it absorbed the former Benton Heights Church of God in 2010, with Colp telling us, “We have always felt a burden to be engaged in our community so the opportunity to birth the Benton Heights Campus was a natural next step.” Colp concludes, “Our vision as a congregation is ‘To Restore God’s Ideal’. We might not be able to make that happen in all of Berrien County but we believe we can go a long way in making that vision a reality as we focus on the Benton Heights community.”
The new ministry center will be constructed adjacent to the existing sanctuary on Euclid Avenue.
