In a time of crisis, some churches still building

MANATEE

On a recent, rainy, Wednesday, more than 500 milled about on a concrete slab without walls and peered up at a grid of reddish-brown steel roof beams destined to become a new East Manatee landmark.

What made the moment remarkable isn’t just that it represented the first “unofficial” service at the new, multi-million dollar, 55,000-square-foot Bayside Community Church a bit east of Lorraine Road on State Road 64, but it also highlighted a church building boom that’s going on despite down economic times.

Besides Bayside, which is scheduled to open the first quarter of 2010, other churches knee-deep in construction include Risen Savior at Lorraine Road near 59th Street, Harvest United Methodist at 14305 Covenant Way and Bible Baptist Church on Morgan Johnson Road.

At least two others — Cornerstone of Lakewood Ranch on Covenant Way and Tabernacle Church off University Parkway — are finalizing construction plans.

So, how is it that bulldozers and dump trucks are silent elsewhere but spewing diesel smoke on church campuses?

Rebecca Campbell, who attends Bayside and was one of those visiting the half-finished church earlier this month, has an answer as to why local congregation.

She believes it’s because people of faith understand they can turn to faith for their prosperity.

Campbell, a personal trainer who lives in Mill Creek with her UPS-employed husband, Jeff, and children, Marissa, 16, and Garrett, 14, said her family made two financial commitments to Bayside’s building fund and got more than what they gave back.

“When we finished the first commitment, we got an inheritance we hadn’t expected,” Rebecca Campbell said. “Also, I was in the hospital in February and they thought I might have had a stroke. I couldn’t walk for three days. Now, I am walking. When we put our lives in God’s hands, he looks out for our spiritual, physical and financial health.”

“The reason all these Manatee County churches are building is that their members realize they can no longer get a quick fix from the world,” Campbell added.

The Rev. Daniel Witte of Risen Savior agrees with Campbell’s reasoning, but says it in a different way.

His church plans to be in its first brick and mortar home at the beginning of August.

“I think when times get tougher, God gets more credit than when things are going gangbusters,” Witte said. “When we are feeling flush and we build, it’s easier to take credit ourselves for our supposed foresight and prowess.”

Bayside is a good example of a church’s ability to weather the tough climate because its members are looking to their faith for their actions.

The church, which has been meeting at Freedom Elementary School on State Road 64 since 2003, had hoped to build a sanctuary of more than 100,000-square-feet, said Dave Neiman, administrative director.

Economic stress cut the plans in half about a year ago. But the times didn’t cut the plans down to zero.