THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994              TAG: 9408310147
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   37 lines

CHURCH TO CELEBRATE NEW SANCTUARY THE NEW BUILDING SEATS 300 AND HAS CHOIR ROOMS, A FELLOWSHIP HALL AND A KITCHEN.

The congregation of Morning Star Baptist Church will celebrate the relocation of its sanctuary Saturday.

Beginning with a Dedicatory Service at 9 a.m. at the old church site, 610 1/2 Virginia Ave., the congregation will then proceed with a march to the church's new location at 2211 High St. A Dedication Service will start there at 11 a.m.

The Rev. Milton R. Blount, pastor of New Mount Olivet Baptist Church, will be the guest speaker.

Morning Star Baptist was organized in Pinners Point on Aug. 31, 1917, and a one-room church was built in 1925. Completion of the Midtown Tunnel in 1962 and development of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal displaced many in the church's congregation. Concerns over increased traffic and industrial development around the Virginia Avenue site led the congregation to begin a search for a new location in the late 1980s.

In July 1991, Morning Star held a groundbreaking ceremony, followed by the laying of a foundation in November 1992 at the High Street site.

The new sanctuary, which will seat 300, includes choir rooms, a fellowship hall and kitchen facilities. Estimated value of the new church is $460,000. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL

The congregation of Morning Star Baptist Church will celebrate the

relocation of its new sanctuary at 2211 High St. on Saturday.

by CNB