Northwest Baptist ChurchGainesville, Florida

Enjoying God

Investing in relationships

Engaging in ministry

April 18-19, 2015

40YEARS OF...

Poem written on the back page of Northwest Baptist Church’s Constitution Service.

By Pastor Bob ParhamTo all who know the joy and peace of salvation And desire to share it;To all who love Christ And want a place to serve Him;To all who enjoy Christian fellowship And long for a loving group;To all who are weary And need rest;To all who are lonely And need friendship;To all who mourn And need comfort;To all who sin And need a savior;The doors of this church are open in welcome,The hands of this church are offered in friendship, And the heart of this church is given in love.

Front and back of the program of Northwest Baptist Church’s Constitution Service on May 4, 1975.

By Jo Ann ParhamWife of Pastor Robert ParhamFirst pastor of Northwest Baptist Church

What is needed to begin a church? A vision from God and a love of Jesus and for people. What else? Interested praying people. A place to meet, a name, leaders, materials, finances, programs, activities, visitation, and the list goes on.

A Vision Became a Reality

Pastor Bob Parham (center) leads the Northwest Baptist Mission Dedication in 1973. First families from North Central Baptist Church to start North-west Baptist Mission surround him.

ment to transfer to color from black and white programming. It was felt that many more people would be reached through this medium than a new mission. The money was changed to cover that need.

Dreams, visions, and plans often encounter obsta-cles. Delays may be expected. But with God and with hope, problems can be solved. The people recognized that Gainesville’s population was moving west. The mission of a Baptist church in that section of Gainesville continued in the hearts of many.

North Central again budgeted money to help start the mission. The local Baptist association pro-vided its support. Prayer meetings began in the Turlingtons’ home. A steering committee of Carl Turlington, Jane Thorpe, and Al Banks was es-tablished. Bob Parham agreed to serve as pastor. Permission was granted to have worship services at Buchholz High School.

Sunday school, Training Union, and all mission or-ganizations were started. A consistent visitation program was carried out. The congregation was devoted to their commitment of having a loving, caring, honest, and productive ministry.

Another step forward was the completion of two buildings on the property. Then in May 1975, Northwest Baptist Mission was constituted to Northwest Baptist Church.

Challenges will continue, but a vision became reality.

In January 1969, North Central Baptist Church accepted five acres from Jane and Hollis Thorpe. It was located at the corner of NW 23rd Avenue and NW 55th Street in Gainesville. A dream was creat-ed. The first step was fulfilled. Next, that church, under the leadership of Rev. N.B. Langford, put $6,000 in its 1970 budget to start a mission.

Then, referring to the Southern Baptist Conven-tion’s Home Mission Board guidelines to deter-mine a prospective location presented a problem. There were not enough people in the area, ac-cording to the HMB guidelines, to warrant such a venture. North Central also had a television program and needed funds to purchase equip-

The steeple is raised on the Worship Center in 2004.

Jo Ann Parham

On the cover: (Top to bottom) Artist rendering on cover of church consiitution program in May 1975. Groundbreaking ceremony in 1974. (l-r) Al Banks, Jane Thorpe, Pastor Bob Parham, and Martin Chitty break ground on the first church buildings. Mrs. Thorpe donated the land for the original church building.Construction of Worship Center in 2003-2004. Current church grounds, 2015.

Pastor, 2010-present

Northwest has been called into existence and sustained by God these 40 years in order to bring Him glory through:

Our enjoyment of Who He is, Our investment in the relationships with which He has entrusted us, and Our engagement in the ministries to which He has led us.

I have been blessed to serve as the lead pastor of Northwest these last five years. During my tenure here, we have aimed our efforts at these three components of the vision God had bestowed upon us. God has provided this church and its

Pastor’s Comments: Craig Cantonpastor with staff leadership and a group of lay leaders that are second to none in talent, humili-ty, passion, and a desire to fulfill their individual God-given callings. To me, that has been the secret of recent successes gained for the Lord and His Kingdom.

Our culture is not at all what it was when the church was incorporated four decades ago. People change. Society moves on. Technologies advance on many fronts. Our community continues to grow and develop. During this time at Northwest, God has refocused our minds, hearts, and efforts and aimed us at fulfilling the Great Commission and Great Commandment for the next 40 years. People still need the life-transforming power and grace of Jesus Christ more than ever before. I am excited to see what He will do through us to reach this next generation in salvation, discipleship, and multiplication of ministry.

To God be the glory for all that He has done, is doing, and will do!

Northwest Baptist Church began as a mission of North Central Baptist Church, as a result of a gift of five acres of land given by Mr. and Mrs. Hollis Thorpe. A group of 100 dedicated workers from North Central Baptist Church went to work to

help establish this new ministry.

Beginning on Aug. 22, 1973, a group of people began meeting in the home of Carl and Muriel Turlington to pray and get organized. All need-ed committees were elected, and everyone was praying for God’s guidance in securing an interim pastor. The

A Short History of Northwest Baptist Church

entire nominat-ing committee felt led to ask Pastor Robert (Bob) Parham, who had been meeting with the group and lead-ing the prayer meetings. After prayerful consid-eration, he accepted this calling.

At the close of the evening services at North Cen-tral on Sept. 30, Pastor N.B. Langford led a com-missioning service for those going to the North-west Baptist Mission. Arrangements were made with the Alachua County School Board to begin meeting at the Buchholz High School cafeteria,

(L-R) Al Banks, first deacon chair, Northwest Pastor Bob Parham, and North Central Baptist Pastor N.B. Langford Continued on next page.

First group of Royal Ambassa-dors (RA’s), led by Clif Copeland.

Craig Canton

as the mission’s first meeting place. The school is adjacent to the church proper-ty. On the first service held, 98 persons attended Sunday school, and 153 attended worship service.

The first budget of the mission was $20,000.

It soon became possible to construct a permanent meeting place. On Aug. 11, 1974, a groundbreak-ing service was held on the mission property for the combined education/worship building, which was built at a cost of $127,000 in 1975. The build-ing committee consisted of Martin Chitty, Carl Turlington, Al Banks, Wesley Dicks, and Jane Kim-brough. Two adjacent buildings (B and C), totaling 3,800 square feet, were dedicated on Feb. 2, 1975. In March, the first deacons were elected: Wilbur Jordan, James Kimbrough, and Wesley Dicks.

Northwest Baptist Mission was constituted a church on May 4, 1975. Total church membership was 133 with an enrollment in Sunday school of

172 and an average attendance of 99.

The church was growing rapidly and the need for a bigger facility was recognized. In October 1975, the church voted to enter into a bond program for construction of a new building (A building or now called the Fellowship Hall), which consisted of 7,000 square feet containing worship space, a kitchen, offices, and classrooms. Throughout this period, the mission organizations – WMU, Act-eens, Girls in Action (GA’s), Mission Friends, and Royal Ambassadors (RA’s) – were busy. The youth was being led by Skip Haymans and a youth choir was meeting and singing regularly during the church services.

A church library had been started, and by the end of March 1976, the library had over 500 books on the shelves. Dr. and Mrs. Lee were the first librarians. On April 28, 1976, the church extended a call to Shirley Cope-land to become the

Pastor’s Comments: Bob ParhamBy Jo Ann ParhamWife of Pastor Robert ParhamPastor, 1973-1976

Returning from missionary service because of his multiple sclerosis, Bob Parham was discouraged. When the opportunity to serve as pastor of the

Northwest Baptist Mission oc-curred, he was uncertain wheth-er or not he had the strength to assume that awesome task. Seeking God’s leadership, he agreed to give it a try.

One of Bob’s blessings was a recognition that God would still use him. God moved in the hearts of the original members to believe that serving God meant giv-ing generously of one’s time and providing help to those in need. Without that marvelous support, he could never have fulfilled that role.

Northwest became a spiritually and numerically growing church. A review of its history points to many ways God blessed. Things like the location, financial stability, commitment to serve, and the desire to look beyond themselves in order to min-ster to others are God’s gifts.

Continued on next page.

Rehearsing for a musical program early in Northwest’s history.

Santa Fe River Baptist Association director Richard Barber (left) and Northwest Baptist Church Pastor Bob Parham

Congregation in new church.

Bob Parham

first full-time music director.

In 1976, the United States celebrated its bicentennial. One of our deacons, Jim Kimbrough, brought a large bell from Mississippi to the church. On Independence Day, the bell was rung

for five minutes as Northwest joined in celebra-tion of the birth of our nation.

Pastor Parham resigned as pastor on July 18, 1976; his wife, Jo Ann had accepted a position to teach at the Baptist College in Texas. That was a special day as the first baptisms were held in the yet-to-be-completed new worship center.

Several men served as pastor or interim pastor

through the mid-1970s to mid-1980s. Rev. Frank Grant served as pastor from April 1977-1979; and Rev. Randall Stout served as interim pas-tor from October 1979 to July 1980. Rev. Danny Souder was called as pastor in July 1980; he served as pastor until July 1985. During his pastor-ate, the preschool building (Building D) was built. The 5,300-square-foot, octagon-shaped building has a capacity of 120 persons. Rev. Stout was asked to serve as interim pastor again from August 1985 until February 1986.

In February 1986, Dr. Roy Jerrell was called as pastor. In 1987, Danny Austin joined the staff as Minister of Youth and Education and Dave Ezell as Minis-ter of Music. During their leadership, the church continued to grow. Sunday school enrollment reached an all-time high of

Pastor’s Comments: Roy JerrellPastor, 1986-1996

There are some things in life that you never for-get. Coming to Northwest as pastor, February 1, 1986 and the 10 years and six months that fol-lowed is one of those experiences.

I will never forget the response of the church when it was considering calling me, that my wife Renabelle had a brain hemorrhage and could nev-er be a pastor’s wife. “Pastor Roy, it is all right,” many said. “We will minister to you as you are ministering and leading us.” The church did that very thing for those 10-plus years. “What a minis-try.”

As a result of that godly attitude and love, God blessed Northwest in growth and ministry. We

added to the staff David and Beverly Ezell in music and finance, Danny and Eva Austin in education and youth ministries while tripling our secretarial staff.

In those years, we reached 819 people (310 by baptism), developed ministries, became debt-free, and built the office/children’s building, plus com-pleted a master plan for Northwest’s future. The vision that drove this ministry was “Proclaiming the Indwelling Christ.”

What glorious days!

Continued on next page.

Royal Ambassadors (RA’s) show some of the food they collected in a food drive.

Danny Souder

Adult Bible study class at Northwest in 1995.

Roy Jerrell

The Reynolds family at a library open house.

744, with a one-day high attendance of 314. Spiritual growth and “family” were the focus of Pastor Jerrell’s ministry.

The church purchased an addition-al piece of property (2.5 acres) adja-cent to the original gift

from the Thorpes. The church now owns approxi-mately 7.5 acres of land.

In 1990, Northwest established Southwest Baptist Mission in a mobile home park on Archer Road. The first Sunday school and worship service was held on April 7, 1991. The mission had over 70 people enrolled in Sunday school. Several adults and children came to know the Lord during the time of the mission. The mission closed following the sale of the mobile home property, and the workers returned to work at Northwest Baptist.

The office complex/children’s wing was complet-ed in May 1995. The office complex provides of-fice space for the professional staff, the secretarial staff, and volunteers. The children’s wing consists of five large classrooms and a large conference room.

Pastor Jerrell retired in 1996. After serving as in-terim pastor for several months, Pastor Ken

Westbrook was called as pastor of the church beginning on Aug. 1, 1997. Under his leadership, groundbreaking for the new worship center was held in August 2003 and completed in August 2004. The 15,500-square-foot facility includes the 500-seat worship center and music suite. The building will serve the Gainesville community for many years.

Pastor Westbrook retired in April 2006. Rev. Gary Townsend served as interim pastor from 2006 to 2007; Rev. John Johnson served as pastor from 2007 to 2009; and Rev. Rick Lawrence served as interim pastor from 2009 to 2010.

Dr. Craig Canton was called to serve as lead pastor in June 2010. During Dr. Canton’s tenure, the church has refined its vision, taken on a new missional approach to local min-istries, de-veloped a new small group dis-cipleship ministry, raised Co-operative Program giving significant-ly, paid off all remaining building program debt, hired the church’s first Director of Preschool and Children’s Ministries, and added nearly 200 members and 50 baptisms.

The early church members met in the house of Carl and Muriel Turlington to pray. Carl played his harmonica for many years in worship services.

Pastor Craig Canton presents a baptism.

John Johnson

(L-r) Pastor Roy Jerrell and Associate Pastors Danny Austin (minister of youth and education) and Dave Ezell (minister of music)

Pastor, 1997-2006

Northwest Baptist Church will always be a place of memories where God worked with his peo-ple who were willing to sacrifice to accomplish great things. The church grew and began mul-tiple Sunday Schools and worship services, set aside money in the budget for construction, had a capital gifts campaign and eventually borrowed additional money to construct a wonderful wor-ship center. A number of university-related peo-ple, as well as others, joined the church, grew in the Lord, and eventually relocated to different parts of the world. The church’s influence, thus, has spread abroad.

Pastor’s Comments: Ken WestbrookI will always appre-ciate the warmth, love, acceptance and support that flowed from the people. After all, a church is not buildings and budgets; it is peo-ple – God’s people – loving, serving, worshiping, learning, growing, ministering, and witnessing their faith. I was an observer and a participant in what God did at Northwest and trust it will continue until His return.

A women’s Sunday school class.Church members sing praises to God in the Worship Center.

Girls in Action (GA’s) sing a song.

This church bus took many youth to camp.

Several children participated in Bible Drill, led by Linda Westbrook.

Ken Westbrook

Children and youth Sunday school classes in 1995.

By Dianne ReynoldsFounder and First PURE Ministry Director

The members of Northwest Baptist Church have always had a special heart for individuals with spe-cial needs as they have been a continual part of our congregation. Following on information gathered at a Developmental Disabilities Ministry, “Opening New Worlds” Conference, Northwest Baptist estab-lished a task force in the summer of 2009 to pursue the possibility of a special needs ministry.

Following the PURE Ministries approach of:

P: Perfectly created by a loving sovereign God, designed for His purposes.

U: Unique in his or her own gifts, bless-ings, talents, desires, and contribu-tions.

R: Receptive and responsive to our com-munication, touch and acts of love.

E: Eternal: There are no disabled souls.

This ministry to families kicked off in fall 2009, giving PURE individuals many opportunities to worship, fellowship, learn, and serve. Starting with a single Sunday school class serving one individu-al, the Northwest Baptist PURE Ministry has pro-gressed to the point where it is an integral part of the church. In January 2010, the church held its first PURE Celebration where David Glover, president and founder of PURE, came and outlined his vision to the congregation.

Northwest Baptist’s PURE Ministry

For the next five years, individuals of all ages have been included in regular ministries, including participation in worship and music during church services, PURE children’s worship, Sunday school, and youth and adult ministries, along with assisting with special tasks, such as picking up the morning records and assisting teachers in Sunday school. The ministry has brought many special events over the years, including quarterly respite events, Unique as a Snowflake parties, an adult coffee shop, sports days, Easter egg hunts, yearly Vacation Bible School, and

accommodations at events such as the Fall Festival.

At a time where few churches pro-vide this much needed ministry to the community, Northwest stands out as one of those few special churches willing to serve PURE families.

PURE Ministry volunteers help during a sports day.

Northwest Baptist’s PURE program ministers to children and families.

First Music Director of Northwest Baptist

It seems like only yesterday that Clif and I saw in the newspaper that Robert Parham was the pastor of Northwest Baptist Mission. We met Bob when he served as the missionary on staff at the Florida Royal Ambassador Camp in Panama City, Florida. We learned that the mission church was meeting at Buchholz High School and attended our first worship service on a Sunday night in late January 1974.

We immediately felt the warmth and excitement of the new congregation in those first days as a mission church. In March, God led us to join Northwest Baptist Mission. Both of us grew up in well-established hometown churches and joining with this mission was exciting and gave us the opportunity to be a part of building a church from

the beginning.

One of the highlights of our time at Northwest was when I was asked to serve as the

music director. I became the third staff member. When I began as music director, the choir had five members and we rehearsed in the home of Wayne

and Jackie Chance. As the church grew our music minis-try grew to 25 in the choir. A children’s choir was organized. Some of our most enjoy-able times were choir fellowships in the homes of choir members.

I am deeply thankful for the opportunity that I had to work with Pastor Bob Parham, Skip Hay-mans, our youth minister, and Evelyn Browning our church secretary. I am thankful that God al-lowed me to play a small part in the music minis-try of Northwest Baptist Church. The opportunity to be a part of a new church and see it progress has been one of life’s greatest blessings from God.

God has a bright future for Northwest Baptist Church. I pray that we will hold on to the excite-ment of that early congregation as they set the course for the future, following God’s leading to build a church where there was no church. May God bless us as we carry on what they began.

Music Notes: Shirley Copeland

Choir members prepare to sing.

Music is an important part of the ministry of Northwest Baptist Church. The choir sings during a morning worship service (right). Church members perform an Easter program (below).

Associate Pastor of Music, 1987—1997

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to minister at Northwest. My family and I felt accepted from the beginning. I found a church that was proud of its heritage—and yet will-ing to try new

things. As I served with Pastor Roy and Pastor Danny, I was inspired to seek after the heart of God. I found godly men and women at Northwest who were willing to sac-rifice to meet the needs of others. The freedom to explore new expressions of worship created moments that I have always treasured. Each adult choir cantata and children’s choir musical that were performed were spiritual markers that gave meaning and purpose in my life.

Associate Pastor of Music and Worship

Worship has always been and always will be a priority of the local church, and for Northwest Baptist Church’s 40 years of history, this has been proven true. For the past two and a half years of Northwest’s four decades of existence, I have had the privilege of leading God’s people here in the corporate worship of our God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is something very sweet about a church that embraces multi-gener-ational worship gatherings with a variety of musi-cal styles that speak to all ages. Whether it is with our lead worship choir, senior adult choir, various ensembles, handbell group, children’s choirs, orchestra, or youth band, Northwest is continuing to strive to exalt our Lord with Christ-centered songs and spirit-filled praise each week.

The worship ministry of Northwest Baptist Church has a rich history filled with years of suc-cessful worship and music education and partici-pation from young children through senior adults. I am humbled by the calling God has placed on me to lead the worship ministry here and am so

Music Notes: Chris McDonald

grateful for such a God-sized opportunity for such a time as this. I pray that as we move into the future God will lead His body at Northwest to fur-ther the worship ministry’s influence for Christ on this corner, here in Gainesville, and beyond for His name’s sake. As He leads us, may we – as His people – be faithful to be found “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with [our] heart to the LORD; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Music Notes: Dave EzellNorthwest was a great place to raise a family. Leslie and Brad were blessed to be a part of the children’s and youth ministries. Beverly and I made enduring friendships with many precious brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you, North-

west, for allowing us to be a part of your lives. May you continue to overflow with God’s blessings. May you continue to hear His voice of direction.

Dave Ezell (in white, left) directs children’s choir musicals in these two pictures.

Dave Ezell

Chris McDonald

Youth Ministry: Al PaulsonAssociate Pastor, Minister of Students

As we celebrate 40 years of ministry as a church family, let me say that I am blessed to have been a part Northwest’s story for the past seven years. During my time at Northwest. I have been privileged to minister alongside a group of people who desire to see God glorified in and though

His church. This has repeatedly been made apparent by the church’s support of our student ministry.

As a result of the faithfulness of our congregation members, we have been able to equip our students to engage a post-Christian culture with the love

of Christ. Many have given so that students could take part in life-changing retreats, summer camps, and mission trips. These experiences will, no doubt, be spiritual mile-markers as students look back on their journey of faith. Our students have also had the privilege of ministering in our community through experiences like conducting backyard Bible clubs, building wheel-chair ramps for people in need, and ministering to the homeless. I am grateful that we are a part of a congregation that sees the value in investing in

By Linda Haymans, wife of Skip HaymansAssociate Pastor of Youth and Education, 1976-1978

In summer 1975, Skip Haymans, a young sem-inary student, was hired by Northwest as the summer youth ministry director. This was Skip’s first church ministry position, and soon became the foundation for the type of pastor he would become. The excitement he experienced in those early days at Northwest showed him how God’s church was an active, thriving, ALIVE place to be. As skip worked alongside of Pastor Bob Parham, he learned the value of marketplace evangelism. The message was “Go where the people are to show God’s love.”

Soon this small group of believers grew quickly into a warm, friendly place where all ages were

the lives of young people.

I am also fortunate to not only have ministered to and with our congregation, but that our congregation has ministered to my family. Our girls are blessed with a church family that loves them and teachers that invest in their spiritual growth and development. I can’t begin to count the blessings that we’ve received as members have rallied around my family in times of need. We are truly blessed to serve a church that loves and supports our family and our ministry.

It is my prayer, that as we approach the upcoming years of ministry, that Northwest will continue to allow God to direct and shape us. It’s very easy for churches to get caught up in who WE think we should be, and to lose sight of who HE thinks we should be. Our world has changed considerably in the past 40 years. We must be brave enough to find new ways of engaging an ever-changing world with the unchanging gospel of Jesus. As we celebrate the past, let it inspire us to boldly follow God’s leadership into the future.

Youth Ministry: Skip Haymanspouring their lives into the vision God wanted for Northwest. In 1976, the church needed more staff, so Skip was called as the full-time youth and education minister. He had $2,000 for youth min-istry in the church budget. But with great youth leaders and lots of creativity, the youth program flourished. Skip enjoyed his time at Northwest un-til God called him and his wife, Linda, to Killarney Baptist Church in Winter Park in December 1978.

In May 2014, Skip was called to heaven. Many of the original Northwest church members at-tended his funeral at First Baptist Church Eustis where he served for 30 years. Northwest blessed Skip’s family with a luncheon where Clif Copeland shared words about Skip’s ministry at Northwest. Clif said, “Skip has come full circle.” Thank you, Northwest Baptist Church for allowing us to share in this wonderful celebration of 40 years.

Al Paulson

Al Paulson leads the youth in a fun activity.

Associate Pastor of Youth and Education1987–1997

Eva and I and our family (Paul, Sarah, John, & Marc) moved to Gainesville in August 1987 from Oklahoma by way of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It had been a blessed but turbulent year for us. On the Sunday the church voted to call us to serve, our son, John (sixth-grader at the time) asked Pastor Roy Jerrell after the service if he was going to let us stay. Pastor Roy broke into a big smile and John’s concerns melted away.

We served nine years under Pastor Roy and our last year under Pastor Ken Westbrook. Those 10 years were a time of spiritual growth for me. We had hardly gotten into town when Northwest hosted a week-long revival with Jim Hilton preaching in the evening ser-vices and his wife

teaching in morning services every day. The Lord ministered to me during that week in a way that helped cement my relationship with Pastor Roy and especially with Dave Ezell (minister of music and worship), who I had met just a few weeks earlier. The Lord taught me so much during those years by the Word and by experience.

Some of the blessed memories of our time at Northwest involved the youth group…retreats, summer camps, mission trips, and youth choir musical dramas. Eva and I have lots of stories we can tell about many experiences (just ask us and we will be glad to tell them to you), but one of the most vivid was a mission trip to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where we led mission VBS in a city park every morning and presented the musical drama, Truth Slayers, at a different church in the Ft. Smith area every night. When we left there, we drove straight to a camp in the mountains of eastern Tennessee where we spent Friday night and did whitewater rafting on Saturday morning. Satur-day night we walked up to the top of a mountain and held a time of worship and thanksgiving. In that service almost every one of the young peo-ple expressed a specific calling of God on their lives. We spent about two hours on that mountain praying and singing praises to the Lord. I have not been able to follow up on all the youth who were there that night because that fall I went to Oak Park Church to be their pastor. However, I know that many of those young people followed through on the calling of the Lord they heard and declared on that mountaintop (17 years ago)! To God be the Glory!

Now may the Lord open the windows of heaven and pour out so many blessings on you (North-west Baptist Church) that you can’t contain them all to the extent that they (the blessings) flow out from you into families all over Gainesville and Alachua County, and to the ends of the earth!

Youth Ministry: Danny Austin

Former Interim Minister of Youth

I am thankful for my short time at Northwest. It truly was a blessing for both of us. I was unable to be in full time ministry due to my wife’s heart condition, and Northwest needed an interim min-ister of youth.

We were blessed by the entire church as we poured our hearts into the students. In addition, as the church continually supported me during

Youth Ministry: Trey Wellsthe most difficult time of my life, losing my first wife while serving there.

Looking back I am thankful for the time we had. Thank you for continuing to share Christ’s love.

I remarried a high school friend, Laura in 2006. We have two boys, James who is 7 and John who is 18 months. I am currently a Senior Pastor at a church outside of Raleigh, NC.

Danny and Eva Austin at a North-west Baptist Valentine’s Day banquet.

By Will Shafer

As a church congregation we are privileged and very blessed to be stewards over 7-1/4 acres of ideally located land with mostly modern facili-ties and with a master plan nearing completion. The vision that God has given us is to achieve the highest and best use for the existing church prop-erty since there is no potential for expanding our acreage.

Over our 40 years, we have had three land ac-quisitions, four master plans, six construction phases, and five loan programs. We are debt free. The present master plan balances worship, education, and parking capacities with our land’s potential and includes government approval for one or two more construction phases. The future will bring a new Adult Education Building, addi-tions to the Fellowship Building for a large kitch-en and a new Media Center, extensive renovation to the entire existing Fellowship Building and site access, parking and paving improvements.

Building on a Firm Foundation for 40 Years

When we were founded as a mission church by the North Central Baptist Church, they provided 5 acres of land, one acre of which was deeded away to become NW 55th Street. Subsequently the church bought a ¾ acre strip along our west boundary before building the Preschool Building and then bought three plated home sites totaling 2-1/2 acres from the developer along our west boundary before building the Office and Chil-dren’s Education Building.

The Worship Center Building was completed in the summer of 2004. It seats 600 for worship plus accommodates a large choir and orchestra. The building also has wedding rooms, baptis-mal mezzanine facilities, restrooms and a music rehearsal suite with robing rooms, equipment storage and music library spaces. We have been blessed with fine facilities and look forward to completing the master plan in the Lord’s good timing.

B building (right) and C building (top) were constructed in 1974 and were dedicated in February 1975.

Outside of church buildings, circa 1991.

Floor plan of Worship Center and adjacent areas.

Construction on the Worship Center took place between 2003 and 2004.

View above the steeple after it was placed on top of the Worship Center.

Northwest Baptist Church5514 NW 23rd AvenueGainesville, FL 32606

352-377-5076discovernorthwest.org

Top to bottom: Children’s Choir performance; Media Center (library) volunteers; Jane Kim-brough; Russell Griffin preparing food for a church fellowship; church picnic; Independence Day Children’s Choir musical; view of the steeple being installed on the Worship Center in 2004.