For many, going to see a movie is a Saturday night well spent. Until recently, going to the movie theater to some meant going to church.
With the recent acquisition of the old Grace Southern Baptist Church building, near the corner of Chestnut Street and Madison Avenue, Fellowship Regional Church is growing.
“We started out five years ago with maybe 50 people,” said Nancy Cokely, Minister Jeff Cokely’s wife. “Now we do two services on the weekend that together equal about 170 people.”
The church’s original space in Riverside Park’s community building was, like many structures on the south end of Iola, damaged during the 2007 flood. The church then turned to the old movie theater on South Washington Avenue.
“This building has been a blessing to us,” Luke Bycroft said. “We’ve had a great time in this building but it’s just worked out that we have this new space to really grow into.”
Some structural problems at the theater — a leaky roof among them — also had a role in the decision to move. FRC has been renting the theater from The One.
The new building contrasts distinctly with the old worship space. In the theater, services were held with no natural lighting. The interior space has a unique quality that Bycroft termed as, “filled with character.” The new building will allow for more natural light.
In addition to the difference in ambiance, the church staff is excited for the possibilities the new building presents.
“We are looking forward to really building the depth of service to our church,” said Jared Ellis, one of the ministers. “We haven’t been able to do as much with creating a men’s group so we’ll be hoping to do that soon. We also are going to be able to split down the youth group into more specific ages so that will be better for the children.”
Reflecting on the building the church is leaving, Ellis spoke about the many projects over time that the church has undertaken to make the theater a home.
“We did a few different things to make this a space for our needs,” said Ellis. “We put in a larger stage and did some paint work to the walls. We are leaving here having done a lot to make it a great place that the owners can do something with.”
The church staff has been busy moving to the new building and will be prepared to host the usual slate of service, 7 o’clock Saturday evenings and 10:30 Sunday monrnings.
“Hopefully we’ll see new faces as we grow,” said Bycroft.
