From Vison to Victory

What began as a dream in the minds of some forward thinking church leadership became a vision for an entire church. The vision became a plan, the plan became an opportunity for sacrifice and giving, and it all culminated with a packed house worshiping Jesus Christ in our new building. Praise God for his goodness! (Click on photos to enlarge.)

A full house for the first worship service

Eight baptisms!

Parking was like Wal-Mart two days before Christmas.

This will be the last post for Woodland Builds. Now that the building is complete, you're invited to come out to 545 Crabtree Road and see the real thing for yourself. How does next Sunday at 10:30 a.m. sound?

End Of An Era

A full house for the final worship service on Old Clyde Road

Sunday, July 27, 2008 marked the final worship service at our building on Old Clyde Road. It was a time for reminiscing, and for thanking God for all his blessing on this local body since its formation in 1938. Keeping with the significance of the occasion, Pastor Alan preached a sermon titled "Looking Back" from Deuteronomy 8. It was a day that brought out a range of emotions among the congregation as we considered our church's past, and looked forward with excitement towards its future. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Pastor Timmy and Banjo give the children's sermon

Pastor Alan preaches with a 55 gallon drum for a pulpit, which is what Woodland's first pastor had to use back in 1938.

Amber Rhinehart sings "Praise the King"

Worshipers exit for the final time

Two Weeks To Go

The new date for the building dedication has been set for August 3rd, and it looks like this is a deadline the contractor can keep. I think everybody at Woodland is starting to get excited as we see the completion date drawing near.

New glass doors at the main entrance

Don't park in those handicap spaces if you don't belong there. Check out those fines! And no, you can't deduct the fine from your tithe.

Fenced-in playground area for the younger grades

Going Into Overtime

"Will we have Woodland's building finished by July 20 like we promised Pastor Alan?"

"I don't think so, Tim."

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Just a wee bit behind schedule.

I think the Empire State Building was the last building in the history of construction to be completed on time (actually, it was completed ahead of schedule), and that was way back in 1931. So it's to be expected that our new church building is running "just a little bit behind schedule". The July 20 kickoff date has gone up in a cloud of construction dust, and now we're looking at sometime in early August. I guess we'll get there when we get there.

The "not quite ready" asphalt parking lot. It will one day hold 200+ cars.

Paving of the parking lot forced a cancellation of the planned July 4th pic-nic. A few of the Woodland faithful, however, didn't let that get in the way of enjoying the Lake Junaluska fireworks show. We just parked across the street from the new building, broke out the lawn chairs, drinks, and snacks, and enjoyed a pleasant summer's evening with friends and fireworks.

Pastor Timmy showing off his new hair style.

Woodland's fireworks watchers enjoying fellowship before the big show.

While were waiting for the fireworks show to start, Virgil gave some of us a sneak peek at the interior progress in the new building.

"Almost completed" risers in the choir loft.

"Nearly ready" built-in work area in the church office.

"Close to finished" children's classroom.

5 Weeks To Go

We're counting down the days until Kickoff Sunday on July 20th! Check out the billboard on the highway between Canton and Clyde. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The new "old rugged cross" on the front of the steeple tower

The spacious parking lot is almost ready for paving.

View from the front door to the parking lot

Woodland Gets First Look At New Building Interior

View of the stage area of the sanctuary

Tours of the new church facility interior were given last Sunday afternoon by Pastor Alan Davis and Virgil Keene. Virgil has been serving as the Building and Grounds Committee's on-site "watchdog", making sure that everything is being done according to our plans, and construction quality remains up to expected standards. Virgil's many years of experience in the construction industry enables him to make sure that our building is being built right.

Virgil Keene and Pastor Alan discuss the building tour schedule

Those who took the tour were no doubt impressed with the amount of thought that is going into the design and construction of the building. The building as a whole is impressive, but after we move in and start using the building, the thought that went into the details will be what amazes you most. Here are a few views of the inside of the building. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The main hall, with church offices to the right

Entrance foyer, looking into the sanctuary

Looking down the hallway of the children's classroom wing

The spacious fellowship hall

View of the rear of the sanctuary. The "house-shaped" opening in the wall is the location for the sound crew.

Getting Stoned

Since I haven't been able to get inside the building for a couple of weeks now, all I can show is how the stone work on the front of the building is progressing. It's going to look real nice when it's all finished.


I've peeked in the widows and can see sheet rock going up, and air conditioning ducts above the ceiling. Hopefully, I'll be able to update some inside photos soon. Oh yeah, the completion date is estimated at mid-July now. That's not too far off!

Catching Up

I've been gone on a Spring break vacation with my family, so I've got some catching up to do on what's been going on at the new building site. The first thing I noticed was that our building has a steeple now!

Workers began putting up the stone that will cover the front of the building. It looks good already!

Outside lighting will help make our building safe at night.

One addition that I wasn't glad to see was a padlocked front door; no more interior shots for a while, I guess.

An Inside Job

I didn't take any photos of the outside of the building this week. It looked just like it did week ago. Most of the work is going on inside now as walls, plumbing, and wiring continue to go in. The most noticeable amount of work was in the front of the building in the platform area

This photo shows the aluminum floor joists and railing that have been installed in the last week or so.

This is a view across the platform from the right side.

I think this will be a changing room for baptisms. You're looking through the doorway that will lead to the baptistry.

Sign Of A Growing Church

Nathan Garrett's Ordination

Perhaps better than photos of a building under construction, the ordination of a young man being sent out to do ministry is evidence of a growing church. Pray for Nathan Garrett and his wife Nancy as they head to Montana to begin their new ministry there. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

It's Getting Dark Inside

I didn't get to visit the building site last week, so this week's visit showed a lot of progress. All of the roof is completed now, which makes it a little dark inside for photos. More inner wall frames are up, making it easier to see the actual layout of classrooms, offices, the sanctuary, and the fellowship hall. It's really starting to look impressive in there!

The back wall of the sanctuary, showing the main entrance and hallway leading to church offices and classrooms.

The fellowship hall is completely encolsed by its wall frames. It's really big!

Boxes of the stone that will soon cover the front of the building are lined up out front awaiting the installers. The front windows are covered by the Tyvek paper right now, but that will be cut away later.

Public Service Announcement From The Editor

Do you see that "Next Blog" button in the blue banner above the words "Woodland Builds"? It has come to my attention that one of our viewers clicked it thinking it would take her to an earlier Woodland Builds post, or another Woodland church blog. Instead, after a few clicks she ended up at a XXX blog. Oooops!!!

The "Next Blog" button is designed by Blogger, the host site, to randomly take the viewer to another blog in the Blogger system. There are tens of thousands of blogs out there of varying content, including a few I'm sure you don't want to see. There's no way to predict or control which blog will come up next, and as can happen whenever one randomly surfs the web, one can end up anywhere. I experimented by clicking "Next Blog" continuously for about 15 minutes, viewed about 60 blogs, and didn't come across anything objectionable. However, I guess it's possible to hit an objectionable blog on the first click, so be warned. It's not a design feature of the Woodland Builds blog, and it certainly wasn't my intent to link anyone to a porn site. So unless you're the adventurous sort, DON'T CLICK THE "NEXT BLOG" BUTTON.

If you want to view previous posts of Woodland Builds, use the "Blog Archive" section on the right side of the page. This will keep you within the Woodland Builds blog where all the content is rated G, and everyone will remain properly attired. The Woodland Baptist Church website can be reached by clicking its link in the "Links" section, also located on the right side of the page. Last time I checked, everyone was clothed there also. As always, children should be properly supervised whenever they're online.

John Roberts
Woodland Builds Editor

Closing In

Progress on the roof and outer walls continued this week, along with more work on interior wall frames. The steeple tower got its roof, and the roof on the right side of the building continues to inch toward the front. Soon, the building will be completely closed in.

Beginnings of the rear wall of the sanctuary, showing what will be the main entrance.

Steeple tower with new roof and siding.

The fellowship hall is almost completely closed in now.