Hamilton County Baptist Association making a move from North Shore to East Brainerd

photo Dr. David Myers is seen in this file photo.

The Hamilton County Baptist Association is shrinking its footprint but not changing its outreach to its 102 member congregations.

The organization, which built and occupied a 5,700-square-foot North Market Street building in 1974, will move next week to a 1,610-square-foot wing in the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home on Lee Highway.

"It's a win-win situation," said director of mission Dr. David Myers. "It's a good situation [for] them and us."

The Baptist Association board of directors also has reached an agreement to sell its building to an undisclosed buyer for "97 percent of its appraised price," he said, but the sale will not be final until later this month.

Myers said the organization no longer needs the space nor the 11 full-time employees it once had. It now has two full-time employees and two part-time employees, he said.

"The nature of the work does not call for [a large staff]," he said.

"And now, when we do have larger training meetings, we have to use the facilities of a church anyway."

Myers said the move also will position the association close to many of its larger suburban churches in the same way Chattanooga has grown -- south and east of downtown.

He said it also will draw member churches to the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home "and give evidence we're working together as Baptists."

Carl Willis, vice president of TBCH, said getting the churches to the campus will be eye-opening for some.

"I've never ceased to be amazed [how many] have never been to the campus," he said. "I'm real excited about the increased exposure."

Willis said the Baptist association approached TBCH about the space, which had been vacant for three years.

"It made sense to everybody," he said.

The Baptist association's renewable two-year lease with TBCH -- at $1 per year -- allows it to occupy the Ward Wing of TBCH's administrative building. It will have use, as needed, of TBCH's Fireplace Room, gym, chapel and kitchen.

The association also will pay a prorated amount for utilities, insurance for its portion of the property and some repair expenses.

"This will be a financial assistance to us," said Myers. "We will not be paying rent, and we will not have monthly expenditures. It's a great gift from them. It speaks well of their good spirit."

Willis said the Mid-South Baptist Association in Memphis has a similar agreement with the TBCH location there.

Myers said members of the Baptist association board of directors have had discussions about selling the building since 2008 because of the cost of maintaining it and the way it is laid out.

"It has served its purpose very well," he said, "but our needs have changed. And we've tried to respond to that."

Myers said the Baptist association's annual meeting voted to sell two wooded lots adjoining the Baptist building last summer, and the building's intended buyer approached officials on the same day they were going to list the property late last year.

"We never even had to put it on the market," he said.

Contact Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6497.

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