Waco Trib
Construction crews are finishing the shell of a new 2,200-seat auditorium on Waco Drive, while Antioch continues to raise funds for a project it has committed to build without debt.
So far, the church has raised about $5.4 million of the $11 million necessary to finish the auditorium and a renovation of the existing church building next door as a children’s education area.
Executive Pastor Jeff Abshire said he is confident the congregation will be able raise the remaining money without major construction delays. The contractor, K4 Construction of Waco, has broken down the project into phases and soon will have the exterior brick and window work finished.
Abshire said he hopes the project can be finished within the next year.
“We have been conservative with our approach, raising money and cash for the next phase before it begins,” Abshire said.
Abshire said the pay-as-you-go approach can be somewhat “painful” in the short term, with weekly pleas for more funds, but it will be rewarding in the long run.
“We have to communicate constantly with the congregation,” he said. “For us, the joy is that we won’t have to have the debt. All the money we receive can be used for ministry, not interest.”
Antioch has a typical weekly attendance of about 3,000 and a base of about 4,000 regular attendees, making it the largest church in Waco by some measures.
The church was founded 15 years ago as a nondenominational spinoff of Highland Baptist Church and moved in 2000 into a renovated supermarket building.
The Waco church since has become the headquarters of a national network of 30 churches, including large ones in College Station and Norman, Okla., and it trains missionaries who serve around the world.
Antioch Community Church in Waco now has three Sunday morning services, which puts pressure not only on staff and volunteers but on churchgoers, who have to rush to leave church to make room for the next wave of worshippers, Abshire said.
With the new building, the church will offer two Sunday morning services and will be able to accommodate about 5,000 people, Abshire said. Two services also will allow churchgoers to worship and volunteer on the same Sunday, he said.
But he said the facility still will be relatively low-frills. Antioch isn’t seeking to build the kind of facilities many churches do as they grow, such as a recreation center, fellowship hall or adult Sunday school.
“This shouldn’t change the way we do anything, other than being able to feed more people,” Abshire said.
The 50-foot-high auditorium building will have removable seats so church and community events, such as concerts and graduation ceremonies, can be held there, Abshire said.
“We’ve planned the infrastructure to allow us to hold events,” he said. “Even if we can’t afford the equipment now, we have the conduits and hang points (for audiovisual equipment). We want to be open to city events.”
Abshire acknowledged that fundraising is a challenge because many in the congregation are working-class people or college students. But he said churchgoers at all economic levels have seen it as a shared burden.
Ken Lorenz, a longtime Antioch member and a life group leader, agreed.
“We all sacrifice,” he said. “This isn’t a deal where 20 percent of the congregation is supporting it. It’s across the board. . . . Kids are catching the vision. As needs are presented, it’s neat to see kids come and say they drew pictures and sold them or ran lemonade stands.”
He said there is no perception among rank-and-file Antioch parishioners that the project is too extravagant or that the sales pitch is too hard.