Feature: Two Churches in One Building--It Works
Lane A. Fusilier
by Lane A. Fusilier, pastor. Fellowship Bible Church, Waco, Texas
We were desperate. No more chairs could be squeezed into the small schoolroom where we were meeting. The private school had no larger rooms suitable for worship, and the local public school district discouraged church rentals. The consistent growth of our church's first year was being choked, and every option we investigated was either inappropriate or too expensive. Fellowship Bible Church of Waco was organized in the fall of 1978. We met in a home for several months, until rapid growth forced us to lease space in the private school. Our children's classes and adult Sunday school had plenty of space, but the largest room that could be used for worship held just under 100 people. We used what was available as creatively as we could and began our search for new facilities. Several members visited every conceivable type of building. We discovered a church building for sale in an older section of town. We were willing to meet there but were wary of the price and the remodeling needs. Another building for sale was located through a realtor—commercial space in an abandoned downtown shopping district. Even that radical opportunity was pursued and examined closely before we came to the same conclusion: too much money for both purchase and remodeling. Meanwhile, the longer we looked for another facility, the greater the need became. One of our men worked with a member of the local Seventh-day Adventist church. While discussing our problem, the two hit upon the possibility of renting the SDA building on Sundays. Several men took the idea to the SDA pastor, Jim Graves. After exploring our doctrinal position and what kinds of building uses we sought. Pastor Graves consulted ...
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