New Ebenezer church facilities aim to unite East Florence

REBECCA DUCKER/ MORNING NEWS Nearly 300 people gathered on the grounds of the New Ebenizer Baptist Church Monday morning as the 143 year old church held a kick off celebration for their 35,000 square foot community center on July 2, 2012. A vision of Rev. Norman Gamble which began 7 years ago is expected to be completed in about a year and will offer the church and the East Florence community a gathering place featuring class rooms and activity space.

A project seven years in the making is now under way in East Florence as New Ebenezer Baptist Church kicked off construction of a new 35,000 square foot-education and recreation facility.

A group of about 300 gathered Monday morning as the effort behind Vision 2005, the initative began by the Rev. Norman Gamble seven years ago with hopes of creating a facility to help unite the community, started to see the fruits of its labor.

Its an opportunity to increase the horizons of this community, Gamble said. We really want to engage this community.

The building may be new, but the idea of engaging the community is anything but at the church, which is more than 140 years old.

This used to be downtown Florence, church member Arron Davis said. Everything was here.

According to Davis, the church currently houses dozens of different community missions. The new facility will offer the congregation better meeting spaces and facilities to grow those missions even more. There will also be educational programs for youth and seniors, and officials hope to generate a GED partnership with Poynor Adult and Community Education Center.

The process of getting the project off the ground has truly united the congregation, Gamble said.

Having a goal really helps. If you know where you are going, you can get there, he said.

Although the project has taken years to get off the ground, the congregation feels the challenges faced were well worth the effort.

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New Ebenezer church facilities aim to unite East Florence