Cornerstone Baptist Church will celebrate its 18,000-square-foot expansion Sunday with special services and an open house.
On Friday, the facility that houses the new sanctuary, offices and nursery was bustling with activity as contractors finished up the final touches on the project.
Pastor Chris Guffey, who has been the pastor there for eight years, told the Democrat on Friday they began planning the project in August 2013.
“It’s been almost a four-year process,” he added. “We started building in October of last year, 2016.”
The church recently celebrated its 15th anniversary and has been at its location on state Route Y since 2006.
“In 2006 they built what is now our gymnasium and education space,” Guffey said. “Previously it served as a multipurpose room, where we did meals, Sunday services and everything.”
With the addition of the new facility the church now has 33,000-square-feet of space located on 23 acres of land. Guffey noted they have future plans for additional expansions.
“By God’s grace, you never know how the future will unfold, we’d like to put in a couple multipurpose (ball) fields,” he added. “We’d like to add some additional youth space in the future, and we’ll need some additional office space as well.”
The church recently added a children’s director position now filled by Steve and Amber Mason, of Lowery City.
Cornerstone is community-minded and hosts many area events for a variety of organizations. Guffey said they have hosted events for Meal on Wheels, Open Door Service Center Inc. and the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’ve offered our building for the (Sedalia 200) schools at various times,” he added. “We hosted a memorial service for one of ours, a suicide victim a couple years back.”
The church has approximately 600 members from a variety of towns, including Sedalia, Green Ridge, Windsor, Knob Noster, Warrensburg, Smithton, Otterville and Sweet Springs.
“That is the one nice thing about being just outside of town, is we tend to draw more than just one community,” Guffey said.
The $1.5 million expansion project used many local contractors. Guffey said Travis Ross of TRC Construction Services LLC, of Sedalia, is the general contractor for the project.
“One of the things I think is neat about this project, we tried to do as much locally as possible,” Guffey said. “And, if you look at a million-and-half-dollar project, we spent roughly everything but about $40,000 right here in Sedalia. We contributed well over a million dollars to the Sedalia economy over the last year. That’s one thing we are proud of. We set out to do that.
“Cornerstone exists to make Jesus famous, one life at a time,” he added. “That vision hasn’t changed. We view this building just as a tool that God has given to us. We want to continue to do that.”
Guffey, his wife Kellie and children Isaiah, 6, and Zariah, 2, welcome the public to attend the services and open house Sunday.
Cornerstone Baptist Church, 19856 state Route Y, will host a 10 a.m. worship service, an 11:30 a.m. open house and lunch and a 1 p.m. dedication service Sunday. Special music will be provided by the Jason Lovins Band, of western Kentucky. Special speaker will be Dr. David Clippard, with the International Mission Board of Florida. For more information call 660-827-4463 or visit www.cornerstonesedalia.com.
