JAY — Faith Way Baptist Church is celebrating the first anniversary of moving into their facility at 66 Hyde Road. The celebration will be capped off with the Winter in the Word Revival featuring Dr. Tom Wallace from Sword of the Lord Ministries. The special services kick off at 1030 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 17. Services will also be held Sunday evening at 6 along with additional services Monday and Tuesday nights at 6:30.

It was last February when the former plumbing warehouse had enough modifications complete for the church to move in. Renovations included removing two large bay garage doors in the warehouse area, building the wall and adding windows. It took from Thanksgiving weekend, when the church closed on the building, to February to convert the warehouse into a church sanctuary. The church has grown from 29 on that first Sunday to consistently over 60 in attendance.

The church considers the acquisition of the building a miracle. They had been in negotiations for months to make the purchase. As the former pastor, Alan Archer, sees it, it was an act of God that brought the pieces of the puzzle together in just the right way and at the right time to allow the church to make the purchase. Current pastor, Dr. Chris Grimbilas, agrees. “I don’t think anyone involved with the church at the time would say anything other than the fact that we are here is a miracle of God.”

It was looking for a building and securing financing for the building that brought Grimbilas to Faith Way Baptist Church to begin with. He explains it this way. “I have a solid business background, so the folks of the church asked if I would help them organize their financial statements in the best light in order to secure financing for a place to purchase.”

This turned out to be a long term blessing to both the church and Pastor Grimbilas as he was called to lead Faith Way Baptist Church in October 2012 after Archer, the founding pastor, retired.

Community involvement has also been a factor as the church has placed floats in several area parades. The church has also added several ministries to help meet the needs of the communities it serves. These include the Tech Team youth group, the Patch the Pirate children’s music program and the BLISS marriage support group. Plans are already in the works for a church-based home school support organization, a single adult ministry and an addiction recovery program.

One of the members expressed his feelings about everything going on. “There is so much happening here. My family has been blessed by being here. I never thought I would find a church that is so supportive and so willing to use God’s people to help others.”

Pastor Grimbilas indicted there is plenty of room for more people, citing needs not only in these planned ministries, but in the existing ministries as well. He is excited as new people join in the transportation ministry, the music ministry and other areas.

He sees a great need with ground floor opportunities to do something for God. “It’s only been one year since we moved in, and it’s been amazing,” said Grimbilas. “All I see is a greater vision and more to come.”

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