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Former Bowling Alley Now a Worship Center
ASHEBORO, NC (June 18, 2004) - The congregation at Central Carolina Community
Church (C4) voted unanimously last Sunday to purchase what used to be a
bowling alley as its permanent facility.
The church used the 22,600-square-foot facility for its morning worship
service and more than 300 attended. The congregation's 133 members voted
to buy the building, but non-members attending the church also were
given an opportunity to voice their opinions and they, too, approved of
the purchase. Since the church has been renting the facility in which it
has been worshipping, the congregation can move whenever it seems fit to
fully occupy the new building.
Along with the building (which sits on 2.5 acres), the church also
acquires an additional two acres of adjacent land. Total cost is $1.56
million, although the market value is considered to be higher. The owner
(an engineer) donated more than $200,000 in equipment and other amenities.
The remodeled bowling alley became a shooting range and then was bought
by a local businessman and renovated for use as a youth center, said
pastor Ed Arroyo. The youth center (known as "The Crossings") never
materialized and the local businessman decided to sell the building. The
businessman's neighbor attends C4 and the neighbor inquired about
whether the church could buy the facility.
"It's like God put another person there to prepare the building for us,"
Arroyo said. "And the guy sees it that way too. He sees that our church
has a strong and vibrant youth ministry and he believes that perhaps our
church can do what he couldn't do. He wants to see us take the building
and minister to our community."
C4 has been seeking a facility for about two years, Arroyo said. The
congregation is located in the middle of Charlotte and Raleigh in a
county of 100,000 inhabitants. About 350 worship weekly at the church -
an increase of about 100 since last August - and the church's youth
ministry has been extremely active in home missions. The youth group is
taking trips to Atlanta and Indiana this summer to provide ministry in
underserved areas.
For more information about C4, call Arroyo at 336-633-4404 or visit the
church website at www.c44u.org.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
