Through careful negotiations the church was able to purchase Piggly Wiggly’s 45,000 square feet of floor space and six acres of land for $600,000. Parker stated, “During the building process ministry continued and the Lord blessed! The Lord opened many doors to minister to those in our community and we saw CP giving increase to 6 percent during the time of this transition.” Kenneth Murray, Sr., whose son is a member of Grace, had purchased the DCFS building and permitted the church to use it free of any cost.ĭawn Parker, the church’s director of technology and children’s ministry, indicated that because there was a growing anticipation and excitement about moving into the new facilities, the church attendance and giving remained strong even during the time the church was in the DCFS building. Since the church had to move out of its old buildings before the renovation was completed they were given the privilege of moving into the buildings formerly used by the Walton County Department of Children and Family Services. Monroe County Day School purchased the church worship center and a residential care establishment, purchased the educational building to establish a facility called Graceful Manor. God’s hand was apparent throughout the process, because He provided two entities to purchase the old property. The church’s previous location in downtown Monroe was limited in space for parking, worship, and Sunday School. Richie Sissom, worship pastor, leads the congregation in praise and worship on the grand opening day at Grace Baptist Church in Monroe. His drawing ignited a spark of enthusiasm that fueled the vision to relocate the church. He began to sketch out a drawing that would accommodate all of the education, fellowship, and worship space under one roof. Grace church member Wayne Ricks was one of the men who saw the grocery store early on and caught the pastor’s dream of using the building for their church. My preacher boys have said, ‘Daddy, you started in a Piggly Wiggly and you’ll end in a Piggly Wiggly.’” “It took two years for the church to catch the vision, six months to negotiate the purchase of the property, and for the past 18 months, the Grace family has worked nonstop in the demolition and construction of our new church facility.įountain continued, “Now the only reminder of the building once being a grocery store is the Piggly Wiggly sign in my office. I told my wife, Dianne, what I believed God had placed in my heart as the new location for the church. I drove by the store and immediately knew that this would be Grace’s new home. Two weeks later, the Piggly Wiggly in Monroe closed. “I began my ministry at Grace Baptist Church on Nov. The Piggly Wiggly actually got us boys out of the projects. “At the age of 18, I was given the opportunity to be the store manager for the Piggly Wiggly in Smith Station, Ala. preaches on the first Sunday in the new worship center – formerly a Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
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