Volunteers construct Harmony Hall for Pidcoke Baptist Church

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

 

On Sunday, a convoy of RVs and other vehicles carrying approximately 65 volunteers arrived to set up a makeshift camp city at Pidcoke Baptist Church. 

 

The workers, with a group called Volunteer Christian Builders, came from First Baptist Church of Henderson, Texas, along with First Baptist of Early, Texas, to help construct a new building on the Pidcoke church's property. 

 

Josh Welch, a member of Pidcoke Baptist Church and on the church's building project committee, said the project would not be possible, if not for the help of Volunteer Christian Builders. 

 

“About 50 percent of the cost of this project is labor, with materials making up the other half,” Welch said. The church has been raising funds for the project, which would have cost at least $300,000, including labor. 

 

“We are trying to do this by paying all cash for (the building),” Welch added. 

 

It might seem like a lofty goal to construct a building from the slab up in five working days, but Welch said things have just fallen into place this week, and believes it's more than chance. 

 

Welch said by the end of this week, the group will have the entire exterior of the building ready, with the roof decking in place. In between now and July 12, when the second group arrives, another group of volunteers will put the roof on the new building, called Harmony Hall. 

 

Shannon Coats, the crew chief of Volunteer Christian Builders, is experienced at projects like this. During the rest of the year, Coats works in IT for the Rusk County Electric Cooperative, but he and his family dedicate two weeks of vacation to direct volunteer construction projects. 

 

“It's a sacrifice, but it allows us to glorify God and help fellow Christians,” Coats said.

 

But there are other benefits, Coats added, especially for the younger generation. It teaches the youth responsibility, about persistence, and it's also a chance for the older to pass on their wisdom to the younger. The oldest crew member is 82. 

 

Diana Willis and her husband have been volunteering with Volunteer Christian Builders for 20 years. 

 

“We started when my son was eight,” Willis said. “He's come every year, except for some years when he was in college.” This week, Willis' son spent the day perched atop the framework of the building, and helped fasten the roof trusses to the frame. 

 

In addition to the crew working on construction, volunteers also kept the church kitchen busy preparing food for the workers every day, and welcomed a donation of lunch from Chick-Fil-A in Copperas Cove on Wednesday.

 

The second group will follow on July 12 and will remain through July 24, with other volunteers from Hico's First Baptist Church, several churches of the Coryell Baptist Association, as well as neighboring Pidcoke United Methodist Church just across F.M. 116 will also help with the project. 

 

The name Harmony Hall comes from the original name given to the church when it first opened its doors in 1884, and was called Harmony Baptist Church. 

 

This new construction is the first for the church since 1935, when the church built its current sanctuary and moved from its former location near the Pidcoke Cemetery. 

 

Harmony Hall will provide more room for the church, and include a nursery, preschool room, a music and library room, along with two classrooms, a fellowship hall, kitchen, pantry and restrooms.