Kansas Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists (KNCSB)

Church in Syracuse, Kan., celebrates new addition

Members of Southern Baptist Church of Syracuse, Kan., wore broad smiles on Sunday morning, Dec. 5.

And they had a good reason to smile: that morning marked the first worship service in the church’s 5,000-square-foot addition. The addition consists of a 125-seat worship center with a spacious fellowship hall and kitchen.

Syracuse is a town of about 1,800 residents located on U.S. Highway 50 about 15 miles from the Colorado state line.

Pastor Jay Hale and his wife, Beverly, have served there for three years. They came to Syracuse after Jay retired from a 28-year career in the Army.

The sanctuary in the old building seated only 62 people “shoulder to shoulder,” Hale said. Worship attendance was averaging 50 people. 

After years of dreaming, praying and giving money to a building fund, the church’s new addition quickly became a reality in 2010. Church members and other local residents teamed up to prepare the building site. A small white cottage next to the church served as the kitchen and fellowship hall. That building had to be torn down before building could proceed.

A local contractor, Miguel Dairy Service of Syracuse, constructed the shell of the new addition and tied it into the old building. The new addition includes such energy-saving features as spray-foam insulation and radiant floor heating.

Then volunteers descended on Syracuse to do the interior construction. Volunteer Christian Builders, based in Texas, did the interior framing. Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Builders installed the electrical wiring.

Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Builders launched in 2010, and Syracuse was its second project. The group’s first project was wiring the 11,500-square-foot addition at Sublette Southern Baptist Church, Sublette, Kan.

Volunteer Christian Builders also did the interior framing for the Sublette church’s addition.

The Syracuse church’s first Sunday in the new addition was capped with a late-afternoon community celebration service. That service dedicated the new facility and thanked Syracuse residents for their help with the building project. Local residents helped the church provide meals for the volunteers, loaned equipment and served in many other ways. 

During the celebration service, Hale preached from Exodus 35 about building the tabernacle. God moved the hearts of the Israelites to contribute precious materials and skilled labor to build the tabernacle. In the same way, God moved the hearts of church members, local residents and out-of-town volunteers to help construct the church’s new addition.

“This building is not the Southern Baptist Church,” Hale reminded. “God owns this building. [It] belongs to God and it was built for His purposes.”

The Syracuse church is not content to sit and enjoy its spacious new facility. Instead, the congregation is looking at how it can reach out. The church is targeting Coolidge, a town of fewer than 100 people near the Colorado state line. A group from Syracuse recently went prayer walking in Coolidge, asking God to open doors for outreach, such as a Bible study.