Title: Spring break 2000 in Florida set for next volunteer effort to build new
church facility
Date: September 23, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: news@cm.disciples.org
99a-62
Melbourne, Florida (DNS) -- Hands-on ministry will move to the next level this spring when some 250 volunteers help construct a new building for Mission Cristiana de Palm Bay, a growing Disciples congregation outside of Orlando.
The volunteer construction component of the building project, organized by the Vision Builders! Construction program, will be stretched over 8-12 weeks beginning in March 2000. The minimal cost for registration, $100, covers food, T-shirts, basic accommodation, and showers.
The dates and arrangements have been chosen to maximize the impact of spring break trips to Florida by young adult, youth, and campus ministry groups. Students are being invited to join in "Road Trippin' 2000," the theme of this volunteer construction project.
Retired persons also are being encouraged to join what's being called the "Great Disciples Caravan," an effort in which RV travelers can stop in for a few days or weeks to work with the Florida new congregation building effort.
"The Vision Builders! partnership with Volunteers in Mission will provide congregations with the opportunity to create a bold and lasting witness in Florida," said C. Douglas Smith, Vision Builders! Construction volunteers coordinator. "Every time we build a structure we are putting faith into action and increasing the chance for communities to radically change lives.
"Florida will be that kind of experience for groups of students, retirees, families, and anyone who wants to volunteer," Smith added.
Mission Cristiana de Palm Bay is a seven-year-old congregation with more than 100 worshiping participants in a growing area of Hispanic residents. The congregation has purchased property for its new building, has architectural plans, and is in the process of finalizing construction contracts.
The Christian Church in Florida has approved the building project and is committed to help recruit volunteers for the build. The volunteers building opportunity will present the Florida region and Disciples around the country with the unique opportunity to lift up the significant witness of new Hispanic churches as part of Vision Builders! and New Congregation Establishment.
Disciples are no strangers to construction. In recent years, volunteers helped build a new church sanctuary in Pittsburgh, Pa., prior to General Assembly in 1995. Disciples also joined others in 1997 to rebuild a burned church in Arkansas. Volunteers in Mission most recently helped organize 1,000 Disciples youth who built a house in three days while attending the International Christian Youth Fellowship conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Florida construction project, however, will be the first time in several decades in which a Disciples church building has been constructed with volunteer effort as a churchwide- sponsored event.
"Anyone who would like to participate in this dynamic new program of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) should contact the Vision Builders! office as soon as possible," Smith urged.
For more information on this and other hands-on new congregation projects, contact the Vision Builders! office, 800- 274-1883, c/o Board of Church Extension, PO Box 7030, Indianapolis, IN 46207. The email address is vb@bce.disciples.org.
Vision Builders! Construction coordinates volunteers in helping to erect church buildings with new congregations. The program is a joint partnership between New Congregation Establishment of Board of Church Extension and Volunteers in Mission (VIM) of Homeland Ministries. Doug Smith serves as volunteers coordinator.
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