After 10 years, church finally has a home of its own

Posted: 2/02/07

After 10 years, church finally
has a home of its own

By George Henson

Staff Writer

BELLVILLE—Harkening to the past promises growth for the future of a congregation looking to put down its roots.

Mill Creek Baptist Church never has had a place to call home.

Since beginning in Pastor Monte Byrd’s home 10 years ago, the congregation has bounced from the community center to a public school to a private school to a German dance hall.

Pastor Monte Byrd believes the high profile location and towering steeple of Mill Creek Baptist Church will draw worshippers to the building constructed by Texas Baptist Men Builders.

“We’ve basically been in every rental facility in town,” Byrd said.

Thanks to the Texas Baptist Men Builders, those wandering days have almost reached their end.

The church’s high steeple and narrow lines will recall an earlier tradition of church architecture. The design is one Byrd had admired when passing a church in Brenham.

When the builder of the Brenham church was contacted, he donated the building plans.

As Byrd looked recently at the nearly completed structure with a team of builders whose average age is 72 worked industriously, he was quick to mention the debt the congregation owed the crew.

“We couldn’t have begun to build this without the Texas Baptist Men Builders. There’s just absolutely no way,” he said.

While the congregation has been faithful, with several families’ membership dating back to the church’s nascent months, the lack of a permanent facility may have hampered growth.

“If we see 30, it’s a good Sunday,” Byrd acknowledged.

That might be about the change. The church will sit at the top of a hill overlooking one of Bellville’s main thoroughfares.

“We’re going to go from where nobody knows where we’re at, to having one of the most visible spots in town,” Byrd said.

When the church began thinking about building a permanent facility, Byrd was asked where he would like to build if he could choose any spot in the city.

“I picked this one,” he said.

When the search for the land’s owner was made, it was discovered she was living in a nursing home. Two months later, she died, and the family sold the congregation the 2 1/2–acre site for $40,000.

The congregation has received affirmation from God throughout the building process, Byrd said. In addition to willingness of the TBM Builders to take on the project and the availability of the prime choice of location at a price they could afford, there have been other things as well.

Wayne Simpkins (right) and other Texas Baptist Men Builders work on Mill Creek Baptist Church in Bellville, providing the congregation its first permanent home. The church started 10 years ago in Pastor Monte Byrd’s home, and it met most recently in a German dance hall.

For example, the church will have a steeple that will spire above the roof to give the church a long sightline to passing traffic. After it arrived, however, Byrd was told a crane would be needed to lift it to the top of the building. He found himself at a loss because there was no money left to rent a crane.

“The heating and air conditioning contractor heard about our problem, and told us: ‘Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of the crane.’ That’s the way it’s been throughout this whole project—God’s fingerprints are just everywhere. One thing after another, God has just taken care of it,” Byrd said.

The construction is not only building excitement in the Mill Creek congregation, but others in the community of 3,800 have been watching the building go through the construction stages.

“Outside of our group, we’re attracting a lot of people who say the building reminds them of the church of their childhood and all that stood for, and I never planned that. I just liked the way it looked,” Byrd said.

But none of it, he repeated, would have happened without the skills of the retired builders who made the plans reality.

Paul Bottoms of First Baptist Church in Jewett is one of those skilled laborers. In more than three years he has been serving on the team, he has participated in building 35 churches.

“It’s just extremely rewarding—spiritually, physically and mentally,” he said. “I just can’t think of a better way of spending my time than serving the Lord.”

He also enjoys the company.

“If you went into a small church like ours and picked out the two or three most dedicated and loving Christian folks, that would be representative of the folks you find on a Texas Baptist Men build,” he said.

Involvement with the builders also brings a great deal of satisfaction, he added.

“The churches are always so thankful, and while we work for the glory of God, that’s real nice,” Bottoms said.

After more than 17 years as a TBM Builder and a veteran of 175 church builds, Wayne Simpkins of First Baptist Church in Bryan headed up the build in Bellville.

He enjoys working on churches so much that he quit his job years ago so he could do it full-time.

“One of the main things is that you know that you’re doing something that will last forever. How many things can you do that really leaves a legacy? Even if they only reached one or two people, that would be worth it,” he said.

“We’re doing mission work. Some people think you have to go out of the country to do mission work, but this is mission work. Every one of these people have been called to do this. We all could be home holding down a chair, but this keeps us active and a lot more healthy.”

Simpkins left Byrd a bit of a challenge.

“I told him if they don’t fill it up in a year, we’re going to come back and tear it down,” he said with a gleam in his eye.

“But we tell them all that, really, and we haven’t torn one down yet.”