Albion church breaks ground on addition
Photos by Tom Rivers: Tim Lindsay, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Albion, stands by the site where a new 5,000-square-foot addition will be constructed on Route 31 across from Bullard Park.
ALBION – A church that started 30 years in Albion has broke ground on a 5,000-square-foot addition, allowing it to more than double its space.
Harvest Christian Fellowship will use the addition for a sanctuary with room for up to 250 people. The church at 560 East Ave. plans to use the existing sanctuary, which seats about 140, for a fellowship hall, and programs for youth and community life, said Tim Lindsay, the church’s pastor since it started in 1987.
When Harvest Christian Fellowship began three decades ago, it held services at the current Elk’s Club. The church rented space when that building was the Albion Firemen’s Recreation Hill. In 1991, Harvest Christian Fellowship purchased the building at 560 East Ave., a site that had been used as a Kingdom Hall by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Lindsay said the existing building is cramped for the church. The addition will be 60-by-80 feet with a connecting structure.
Tim Lindsay is pictured in the current sanctuary at Harvest Christian Fellowship. The space will be reconfigured for a fellowship hall.
To make way for the new sanctuary, the current driveway will no longer be usable. A new driveway will be constructed on the west side of existing church building. A house is currently west of the church and will be removed as part of the project.
Lindsay is hopeful the shell of the new building will be up before winter. Church members are doing most of the construction work.
Lindsay said the church is continuing to raise money for the interior work in the new building, as well as for the reconfiguring that will be needed in the current building.
“Our goal is to have the shell of the new building up and enclosed this year,” Lindsay said. “It will be money-driven on how soon we finish the entire project. It could be 1 to 3 years.”
Members of the church’s board of directors pose for a ground-breaking photo. They include, from left: Rick Huntington, Tim Lindsay, John Gerhardt and Tim Archer.
