Greater Providence Baptist Church
Charlotte, North Carolina
By Jennifer Walker-Journey

Pastor Dr. Fred Gibson had a vision for Greater Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He saw senior citizens and children gathering together for fellowship, a large facility where hundreds of church members could hold dinner meetings, and a center where the surrounding residents could take classes and enrich their own lives. 

Founded in 1935 in the Greenville community, the church later moved to the exclusive Dilworth area of Charlotte. It was that location in 1981 that Pastor Gibson joined Providence and realized the potential.

Dilworth is an older area of Charlotte filled with beautiful, historic homes. The building where Providence called home also was historic, having been a church home to two other churches in the past.

To achieve Pastor Gibson’s vision, the church would have to expand. But, space was limited. And, because the building was historic, it presented challenges when it came to expanding or renovating the building. For five years, the church’s grow was stagnant.

“We had a minority church where they didn’t have any minorities,” he said.

The answer was apparent. In order for the church to grow, it would have to relocate.

In 1988, Providence sold the building in Dilworth and moved into an old Wachovia Bank building near property on Milton Road where a new church would be built. Fourteen months later, Providence moved into its new home, and slowly and steadily, the congregation increased.

A decade later, the church began to feel growing pains and turned to Matt Robertson, a project consultant with Cogun to construct a 600-seat sanctuary with a fellowship hall and education center. Cogun is based in North Lima, Ohio, and has offices throughout the eastern United States. They specialize in assisting churches with the challenges and opportunities of expansion. The company built the sanctuary that is still in use today.

Six years later, as attendance at Providence pushed up into the 700-750 range in numbers, Pastor Gibson called on Cogun again, this time to build the family life center he had envisioned years before.

“Once you establish a rapport with a company and it is a good experience, you will not hesitate to go back again,” Pastor Gibson said.

When designing the new multi-use family life center, three components would be considered, Robertson said. First, there would need to be room for a new fellowship hall that would allow for at least 500 people to sit at round tables. This area would need access to a kitchen so dinners also could be served. Second, there would need to be plenty of recreation space, such as a basketball court with room for bleachers, volleyball area, and a three-lane walking track. Finally, Robertson said, the center would need to be “surrounded with spaces for people to relax and take it easy.” This would include courtyards with tables and stamped concrete patios around the exterior of the building and a youth lounge with a pool table and couches inside the building.

Placement of the new facility presented challenges. Robertson’s first choice of location would require hundreds of thousands of dollars just to prepare it for construction. Plus, the underground water detention system would have to comply with city regulations. So, the team reevaluated its plan and chose another site on the church campus. The new site needed little prep work and had a pond that, when deepened, alleviated the water issue.

When it came to design, Robertson was sure to match the style of the new building with the older ones, with similar brick and a soft color palate with split-faced rock, so that the new family life center would look at home among the other church buildings.

Robertson also used a packaged mechanical system that mounted to the rooftop, which offered greater prevention from unit theft. (Too often, these units are stolen from vandals and stripped of the valuable copper.)

Inside, Robertson used Woodflex on the gymnasium floor. Woodflex flooring has a wood look with benefits of a synthetic floor. It has antibacterial properties and doesn’t require sanding or refinishing, thus offering low maintenance costs.

Construction was completed in March 2008, and Providence is quickly ordering furniture and accessories for the new building so that it can be used immediately. Pastor Gibson is excited about the opportunities the new center offers.

“We plan to offer year-round programs for our communities,” he said. “We’re in the process of developing sewing classes, and we already have a vigorous exercise program for adults.”

The church also hopes to partner with the Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation Department to establish other programs for the benefit of community.

With the new addition, Pastor Gibson said he expects the congregation to grow as well. And, as it grows, he hopes to see the church expand to offer even more programs to the community. They have tentative plans for a fourth phase, which would include a daycare and elementary classrooms.

Cogun partners with independent architectural firms to design and build church facilities that accommodate dreams and desires, as well as budgets. In the past 38 years, Cogun has successfully designed and built more than 650 projects in 33 states, www.cogun.com.

In a Nutshell

Church: Greater Providence Baptist Church

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
 
Congregation Size: 700-750

Project Goal: Build a multi-use family life center

Size: 16,400 square feet

Cost: $2.4 million

Challenge: Building a center that will attract a wide age range of church members as well as community members

Solution: Include three components – a large fellowship hall, a recreation center, and plenty of space for rest and relaxation