DEDICATION OF THE CHILDREN’S CHAPEL & MULTI-PURPOSE MINISTRY COMPLEX

“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.  A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted”

A season is a period of time when something  is to be accomplished, it is that time when conditions are most favourable for success, it is that time when we either succeed or fail, move ahead or be swept back by the pressure of constant motion and forever lose or our chance to accomplish our purpose.  Some seasons seem longer than others but they all have an end when nothing else could be achieved.  It is therefore imperative that we act within our season as for some of us that ideal season shows up only once in our life time.

Almost 61 years ago men and women of commitment, drive and faith at the time known as Jumpers led by a visionary who was beyond his time name Alvin Simon Moss marched from a wooden building on Taylor Street to this place to break ground for the first phase of the wider vision that was to be revealed over time.  Many like those of Noah’s day laughed and criticized, asking who would need a massive boat in the middle of the land or in this case who would dare build such a structure over- the-hill in a poor neighbour where nothing was happening.  But, Alvin S. Moss saw what many could not see, he heard what many could not hear and believed what many doubted.  Like Abram he believed God, like the servant of Elijah on the seventh look he saw a little cloud like a man’s hand rising out of the horizon and like Elijah he heard the sound of an abundance of rain.  I believe it’s beginning to rain again. 

Today we are still living in the blessing of that vision and because of that, we are who we are today.  His vision has brought acclaim to this country from near and far and because of his God given vision many were brought into the kingdom of God.  We salute all of our predecessors and the commitment they had to holiness,  sound doctrine, integrity, justice and love for our fellowmen.

In 2001, one year after becoming Senior Pastor of this great Church, Bishop Franklin Ferguson had a DREAM. – The Lord inspired him with a long term, wide range vision for the work of the church.

At the tip of the iceberg of this FRESH VISION was the Children’s Chapel.  The Children’s Ministry which had been relocated from the bathroom basement to the cafeteria was functioning under adverse conditions even with the installation of the air conditioning.  Providing proper and comfortable setting for the children was Bishop Frank’s desire.

He shared this vision with the Administrative Committee and the congregation and they immediately bought into the vision and he got their full support.  The Financial Drive began shortly thereafter and after several “Drives”, much discussions, approval of design and the setting in place of logistic affairs we were able to break grounds  in late November and began construction a month later.

It was felt that the architectural design of this facility must be in keeping with that of the existing structure.

We praise God for despite the many challenges, the facilities were completed in March of this year at total cost of some $2Million. 

The Architectural design was done by  Vanru Hepburn & Associates;  The General Contractor was Penn Renovations & Construction Company; The Quantity Surveyors were DHP & Associates and the Engineers were Brown’s & Associates.

The Chapel is designed to accommodate infants from 6 weeks up to teenagers.  Our vision is that this church be seen not only as a beacon of light physically, but spiritually, educationally and socially.  Our dream is to fully utilize these facilities to the honour and glory of God.

The Chapel and Multi-Purpose Ministry Complex houses a State of the Art Chapel with Nursery facilities, a kitchenette and appropriate bathroom facilities on the bottom.  The Chapel seats approximately 300 persons comfortably. 

The Upper level consists of  a fully furnished Training Room, a Board Room and Administrative offices.

After much fine tuning and final preparation, the Day of Rejoicing came when we gathered to give praise and thanks to Almighty God for his wonderful works.

At approximately 2:45 p.m. the World Famous Bahama Brass Band led a procession from the Windsor Park to the Tabernacle.  People from all walks of life came to witness this historic occasion.  Among the many dignitaries present were Minister Kathy Creasy, International Director of Children’s Ministries along with her husband, Brother Richard Creasy, a Representative from the Bahamas Christian Council, and other church leaders from other churches and Parliamentarians along with the Prime Minister, Hon Perry G. Christie, who also was with us for the ground breaking ceremony 16 months earlier.  Bishop Elgarnet B. Rahming delivered the sermon and performed the Act of Dedication. 

The ribbons were cut by Sister Valerie Hanna, Verneque Thompson and Rovena Ferguson(wives of the Associate Pastors and Senior Pastor respectively).  These ladies were assisted by three boys, namely: Vincenzo Beneby, Luke-Kennedy Thompson and Delon Cooper. 

WE GIVE GOD ALL THE PRAISE!