For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.
More Info
CALVARY CHAPELAddress: 3415 S. Broad St.Previously: Bi-Lo grocery storeDenomination: NondenominationalAbout the church: When the congregation of Calvary Chapel outgrew the community theater in Memorial Auditorium, it moved to an empty, 42,000-square-foot Bi-Lo grocery on South Broad Street. The church made the move with 400 to 500 people and now has an enrollment of 3,000. The first phase of the renovation, which took almost a year, updated the exterior and created the sanctuary, lobby and children’s ministry spaces. Additional construction phases since then have built two wings off the building, one housing church offices and a café, the other space for middle and high school youth. Frank Ramsuer is senior pastor.METRO TABERNACLEAddress: 2101 Shepherd RoadPreviously: Jumbo Sports, a sporting goods storeDenomination: NondenominationalAbout the church: Pastored by Steve and Reita Ball, the congregation held services in a rented bridal center for nine weeks, then moved to a rented church facility for nine more weeks before moving into its present location in February 2003. The Jumbo Sports building had been empty for more than five years when the congregation took possession of its 42,000 square feet.MOUNT CANAAN BAPTIST CHURCHAddress: 4801 Highway 58Previously: KmartDenomination: BaptistAbout the church: The congregation is pastored by the father-son team of the Rev. Ternae Jordan and the Rev. Ternae Jordan Jr. The church rented a site on North Chamberlain Avenue, then met at Memorial Auditorium before moving to Highway 58 in February.OAKWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH AT GATEWAYAddress: 4031 Cloud Springs Road, Ringgold, Ga.Previously: Gateway Antiques Mall and Business Center.Denomination: BaptistAbout the church: Pastored by Chris Moses, the church takes up 30,000 square feet in the antiques/business center and is an outgrowth of the church’s primary site in Chickamauga, Ga.SOUL HOSPITALAddress: 6215 Lee HighwayPreviously: Dog groomerDenomination: BaptistAbout the church: The congregation previously rented in a business center on Shallowford Road. Soul Hospital began with 12 members and had 86 present for its first service in the Lee Highway location on Easter Sunday this year.THE VINEYARDAddress: 6028 Shallowford Road at the Highway 153 intersectionPreviously: Professional building containing 18 offices, which have housed Mountain Management Services, Tennessee Lottery Corp. and Memorial Health Partners, among others.Denomination: The Vineyard is part of a network of more than 550 Vineyard churches in the United States that began in 1975.About the church: The local Vineyard church was founded in June 2000. The congregation rented space from an Adventist church, then met in Tyner Middle School and moved to its current location in 2014. It is pastored by Jeff Anderle.
The Rev. John Ledford has founded - or "planted" - four churches in his ministerial career.
The first met in a Nashville bowling alley; the second began in a retail plaza storefront; the third in the back room of a Maine restaurant was next door to a bar.
"I used to think I needed a big church and big staff, but this is where God wants to use me," he says. "The biggest challenge of church planting is 'raising people' - gathering that initial core who trust you and share your vision."
In each church, he started with 12 people "because that's what Jesus had."
His latest congregation, Soul Hospital, is a church plant supported by Spring Creek Road Baptist Church in East Ridge, where Ledford was on staff.
This fourth church was founded in April 2011 in an office space in a Shallowford Road business/retail center, but was later asked to move when a prospective tenant "wanted to put a hookah bar in the center but couldn't get licensed since a church was there," Ledford recalls. An agreement was reached in which the new tenant would help pay moving expenses if the church would relocate.
For Soul Hospital, Ledford found space in a vacated dog-grooming storefront in Lee Highway's Perimeter Crossing Plaza - "right next to the Subway restaurant." At first glance, the heart-and-stethoscope sign above the church's door seems to indicate a medical facility, but Soul Hospital is in the business of "making hurting Christians feel welcomed and loved," its slogan proclaims.
A dog-grooming salon may seem an unlikely place to find a church, but to a fledgling congregation with limited finances, it's an answer to prayer.
Soul Hospital is one of at least a half-dozen local congregations that have established churches in vacated venues. Metro Tabernacle in the Shepherd community off Highway 153 was among the first when it moved into a big-box sporting-goods store, Jumbo Sports, in 2003. Mount Canaan Baptist may be the most recent example, currently renovating the former Highway 58 Kmart into a new worship home.
When the congregation of Calvary Chapel outgrew the community theater in Memorial Auditorium, it remodeled the former Broad Street Bi-Lo grocery store. The congregation moved into the new facility at Christmas 2008 with 300 families, or about 400 to 500 folks, says Taylor Bowers, Calvary executive pastor.
"We have inhabited the property in phases," says Bowers. "The first phase was the completion of the exterior facade along with the sanctuary, lobby and children's ministry spaces, which inhabited the main grocery store complex. We have built out the remainder of the space (two tenant wings) in a couple of additional phases. The first wing now houses a café and church offices, and the other wing contains our middle and high school youth space."
Now five services are held each weekend to meet the needs of Calvary's 3,000-member congregation and plans for a new addition are posted on the church's website. The next building phase includes a multi-purpose building with a gym, toddler play area, outdoor family space, new rear entrance to the children's area and an expansion of the café.
Bowers says the congregation's vision to renovate a vacated property rather than build is inspired by Scripture.
"Isaiah 58 has been a foundational Scripture for our church since our founding pastor first moved to the area," Bowers explains. "In it, God commands the Israelites to raise up the 'old waste places.' While many churches have relocated to suburban campuses following the shift of urban populations, we have felt led to be a strong presence within the city."
By contrast, Ledford's expenses - other than rent - to remodel the dog grooming space have included paint and the purchase of about 100 chairs at $2 each, which Ledford drove to Atlanta to purchase from a school. He says Soul Hospital still receives some funding from Spring Creek Baptist, but expects that financing to phase out in another year.
He believes abandoned properties being renovated and reborn as churches is a trend that will grow stronger in coming years.
"The church is becoming less about churches and grounds and more about people, the teaching and the fellowship," he says.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.