On June 7, 1987, Rankin Roach preached his first official sermon as our pastor (Church Records, 1987).  Under his leadership the church began to grow at a rate which had only been seen in 1936 when the official “class” was founded.  In 1989, we began to rent the Hartford community building because we had outgrown the Fellowship Building, and at one business meeting in 1989, we even considered the possibility of doubling the size of the fellowship building.  During this time, we held many revivals that filled the church to capacity and many were saved. 

In March of 1990 it was decided that the church needed to be expanded to cope with the higher attendance.  Then, in June of 1990, a goal of $20,000.00 was set for the construction of an addition to the church.  On September 5, 1991 a building committee was formed to explore ideas for the construction of an addition to the church structure.  Six individuals were to volunteer to be a part of this committee and Dean Knight was elected to head the building committee (Business Meeting Minutes, 1989-1991).

1992: Doubling the Size of the Church

            At the March 5th business meeting in 1992, it was voted to proceed with the construction of the addition to the church.  The building fund had exceeded the $20,000.00 mark set in 1990, and it was time to begin construction.  The building committee decided on a construction design that called for the east wall of the Church to be removed and the size of the sanctuary to be doubled.  Also, this new addition would have a full basement under it with new classrooms.  The most noticeable feature of this plan would be the massive beam that would support the roof on the old side of the Church; this beam would be constructed from laminated wood and would be approximately 40’x1’x3’.

            During the May 7th business meeting, it was decided to begin looking for a loan and begin construction immediately.  It was also voted to postpone VBS until the new addition was under roof.  Later that month a groundbreaking was held and construction began.  During June, the hole for the basement was excavated and the basement was constructed.  By mid-July we were under roof and could now see the size of the new sanctuary because the wall had been removed.

                In late July, VBS was held with some of the classes meeting in the partially completed addition.  This could be considered the first official use of the new structure.  Since lighting had not yet been installed, many of the rooms were lit with just a few hastily strung sixty watt bulbs.  This was truly a memorable VBS (Church Records, 1992).

            By the fall of 1992, most of the construction was completed and the Church appeared much as it does today.  The only construction project after 1992 was the construction of a hallway to connect the Fellowship Building to the Church.  This was done in 1993 (Business Meeting Minutes, 1993).

1993 – 1998

            In August of 1996, Rankin Roach retired as our pastor after nine years of service.  In October of that same year, John Hart was hired as our pastor.  One year later, in December of 1997, John Hart resigned to become a missionary to the people of the Balkans (Church Records, 1996-1998). 

            On March 30, 1998 Brian May was hired as our pastor.  Under his leadership we have continued to grow both spiritually and in number.  Since the size of the sanctuary was doubled in 1992, our average attendance has doubled