THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510220046
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Members of First Baptist Church of Norfolk will get more than a worship service and Bible study today - they'll get a vision for their next spiritual home, which will rise next to Chesapeake's Greenbrier mall before the year 2000.
It's a vision that redefines ``church'' as a full-service family center, built to serve people right down to their leisure time.
Here's what it might have: racquetball and basketball courts; a gym and weight room; classroom space to serve several thousand adults and youth; a two-story central lobby and banquet hall, with skylights and sweeping staircase; a 3,500-seat worship center with audio, video and lighting to accommodate orchestra and choir.
It's pure concept without - at the moment - the precise reality of a multi-million dollar price tag.
But if it gets built in the style that leaders of the 5,000-member church envision, it will change more than the scope of congregants' spiritual experience. It will be a transforming landmark on 48 acres in the heart of Greenbrier, a planned community that has become the hub of Chesapeake's retail and business growth.
``There's not a church like it in this area. There's not a church like it in Virginia,'' said the Rev. Tommy Teague, senior associate pastor for education. ``It's about reaching, encouraging and equipping people to do all they can to serve the Lord.''
The church has been in the planning stages since the land was purchased in Dec. 1993 for $1.6 million, but today's worship service is the first time the entire congregation will get the full preview of what pastors call the ``conceptual vision.''
The fund-raising campaign starts in January, and church leaders hope to start building within two years. It will take 18 months to two years to complete the church, which is likely to be more than twice the size of the current 120,000-square-foot church at 312 Kempsville Road.
Church leaders believe that some will criticize the grandeur of their plans. They first point out that their church is already bursting at the seams - some Bible study classes on Sunday must be held at the Comfort Inn nearby. And they say people are increasingly seeking churches with the ministries and space to serve them beyond a weekly sermon and Sunday school.
``We feel God has not only given us a vision, but equipped us spiritually, theologically to meet the needs of the people in this area,'' said Teague. ``If a guy wants to say, `They're too big and showy, too ostentatious,' I can't do anything about that. I just say, `Look at our heart.' ''
In its 190-year history, the church often has moved to follow population growth. This move follows that tradition: Chesapeake is the fastest-growing city in Virginia, and that city's residents are a rapidly growing segment of the church's membership.
The new location - visible from Interstate 64 and close to an exit ramp - provides easy access for families in the three cities where 90 percent of the church's members live. Virginia Beach residents - especially from Kempsville - are 52 percent of the church's congregation, with 20 percent coming from Norfolk, and 18 percent from Chesapeake.
The church estimates an average annual growth of 10 percent for the rest of the decade, at least. One sign of the church's vitality is attendance for Wednesday night classes and fellowship: It has risen from 500 people to 1,400 in the last year.
Development plans for the new church are under the direction of Ken Blankenship, a 48-year-old architect who worked at the Shriver and Holland Associates in Norfolk before joining the church's staff to lead this project. He has designed important buildings - including work on the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond - but this is special.
``Once in a lifetime,'' he said. ``It will have an impact on people I'll never meet.''
The church is conceived as three wings, united by a lofty central gallery which will serve as a gathering space for fellowship, banquets, and weddings. It will be lit by extensive skylights and may have a split staircase at one end.
The worship center will have seating for 3,500 with the capability to be expanded to 4,000, and technology to provide better acoustics for the church's orchestra and choir. The church's Sunday service - in the current hall seating 1,600 - is taped and aired on several local television stations.
Another wing will house a conference center and sports facilities, which may include a gym, weight room, indoor and outdoor basketball courts and some racquetball courts.
While extensive sports facilities are rare in Hampton Roads churches, they are a growing trend at large churches across the country. Central Church Church in Memphis - a non-denominational Christian church with 7,000 members - even has an Olympic-size pool.
``We are such a fitness-oriented society. It's a great opportunity for families, singles and new people. . . to participate in sports in a real wholesome manner,'' said the Rev. Robert Reccord, senior pastor at First Baptist. He said he expects that the conference facilities will also be used by the community.
Classrooms and other teaching space will take up another wing, with enough room for several thousand people to meet. Current attendance at Sunday Bible study classes runs about 2,500 and church leaders expect attendance to rise to 3,600 by 1999.
The current church's style is strongly contemporary, with sloping roofs and a slim, angular bell tower. The vision for the new church is likely to be more traditional, using brick, stucco and stone to give it a modern look with some Gothic influences.
Those Gothic touches capture the memory of the church's former site at Westover and Moran avenues in Norfolk. That church was destroyed in a fire Oct. 2, 1970.
The motto for the campaign to build the new church is taken from the comment of an elderly member of the congregation, who recalled that disaster with a spiritual twist: ``On Oct. 2, 1970, First Baptist Church caught fire. Thank God, it hasn't stopped burning since.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
LOS ANGELES TIMES
It took 50 years for Roger C. ``Bill'' Terry to clear his name. The
felony conviction in the Tuskegee airman's court-martial?
``Jostling'' a white officer while trying to enter a white club.
First Baptist Church of Norfolk, above, is expanding. Ideas for the
new facility involve basketball and racquetball courts and a gym.
Map
VP
by CNB