It’s time to make a permanent home.
The Country Baptist Church in Wilton has, for the past four years, made do with renting space in the Mason’s Hall in Wilton. But this week, the church expects to close on a former office space on Main Street for its new, permanent residence.
“Our membership has grown to the point where it was possible to rent or purchase a bigger space,” said Pastor Jason Neel of Wilton. “So, we started looking around for an opportunity.”
That opportunity came in the form of a former law office at 17 Main Street, a space that has the potential for the congregation to grow both immediately and in the future.
The congregation at the church is still fairly small – about 35 members. But with 2,400 square feet to work with, Neel said the membership could grow up to 50 now, and up to potentially 100 or 125 when the building is sprinklered – a project for the future.
Though Neel said he expects to be able to conclude the purchase of the space within a week, it will be between a month and two months before the church is able to make its permanent home there, as the building is being renovated to meet code as an assembly space, rather than an office.
But that delay is minor when it comes to being able to have a permanent home, said Neel.
“We’ve had a place to meet, but it’s not like having a place of our own,” he said. “ A place we can decorate as we like and use for special services and meals.”
The church hopes to be able to expand its current services to a morning and evening service on Sunday and on Wednesday evenings.
“We’re looking to be a blessing on the community,” said Neel. “We want to have a place people can come and worship. We’re looking forward to being able to have more services, in addition to some other special events and special things for the community.”
The Planning Board gave its conditional approval for the change of use of the space on Thursday.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.