Back in 2014, due to the steady growth of our congregation a tremendous strain was being put on the existing buildings including the sanctuary to accommodate the round the clock activities of our family. At the time we added a third service to alleviate the congestion in the existing two services. As a result, conversations began around creating additional space to support the growing congregation.

After much discussion It was decided to embark on the Construction of a new sanctuary on the property immediately north of the church (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard & 29th Street), which is currently used for parking and to repurpose the current sanctuary for the use of ministry.

These projects were projected to be completed in two phases. Phase one, the construction of the new sanctuary and Phase two, the repurposing of the current sanctuary and auxiliary spaces.

To finance the project, the church authorized a Funding Campaign titled ‘Embracing The Future’ with the goal of raising necessary funds to complete the project. The campaign lasted three years from 2014 to 2017 and received pledges in the amount of one million eight hundred and three thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight dollars ($1,803,128.00).

While we came close to the receiving the full amount pledged, we did not receive sufficient in pledges to move ahead without additional funding. The building committee presented to the church a plan to borrow the additional amount and received the approval from the church to secure the additional funds needed to complete the project. The committee diligently pursued a lender and was successful in engaging a bank willing to back us.

Following the campaign’s conclusion in 2017, the committee embarked on pre-construction activities such as property acquisition for extra parking and the rerouting of electrical and water infrastructure required by the city.

Additionally, we petitioned the City of Tampa to rezone all our properties to commercial zoning to allow us to move forward with the project. This phase took a lot of time and energy, but ultimately, we were successful in obtaining the requested approvals. At the same time, we engaged an architect to design the

project and received acceptable renderings in early 2020. Check the church website to see the renderings.

The committee also vetted and narrowed the choice of a contractor along with the selection of a steel fabricator for the metal structure. We were all set to proceed when COVID-19 descended upon the world.

As everything in the world initially came to a standstill, it was determined that we should pause all activities related to the ‘Embracing the Future’ initiative until we were on the other side of the crisis.

Here we are over two years later, and things are still not back to normal. The committee recently met to assess our current situation and discuss the way forward. It is the consensus of the committee that we are still not ready to proceed currently and asks the church to allow us the remainder of 2022 to develop a plan for presentation to the church.

We want to assure the church that all funds not expended for the previously stated expenses is safely held in interest bearing accounts with local banks. If anyone would like to receive additional information, please contact the Building Committee chair Deacon Leon drew at LDrew2008@verizon.net.

We ask that you keep our church in prayer as we make important decisions about the future of this project and our church at large.