$14 Million Church Project Inching Toward Completion

    The seats are in, the walls have paint, and the First Baptist Church of Umatilla’s $14 million sanctuary construction project has taken on the look of a proper worship center. Under construction since the fall of 2021, the massive structure that features a nearly 1,300-seat sanctuary is expected to come online this spring.
   Though the project has been slowed due to ongoing manpower shortages among contractors, church pastor Brooks Braswell this week voiced pleasure with the project so far.
   “I feel great about it,” Braswell said on Tuesday. “We’re very excited about the finishing touches.”
   Braswell said the building could be done in March, but the expected ‘punch list’ that comes at the end of construction projects could push the opening past Easter, which arrives on March 31.
   The construction project is among the largest ever undertaken in the Umatilla area.
   Braswell said the church’s continued growth shows it made the right move when deciding to build the building. Since the first of the year, the church has experienced at least three Sundays when over 2,000 people have come to the facility for services.
   “In my 44 years on this earth, I have never seen the move of God like it is moving at First Baptist Umatilla right now,” Braswell said. “That’s a statement not about a building, but about what we are seeing in people.”
   Braswell said the church is drawing attendees from as far away as Palatka, DeLand, DeLeon Springs, Ocoee, and Groveland.
   “These are people who are consistently coming. This is their church.”
   Braswell said the church’s continued growth has him thinking any fears the congregation would feel ‘small’ in the new, expansive sanctuary could soon have their fears allayed.
   “I think it’s going to be full way faster than we think.”
   The sanctuary is just the first phase of a broader expansion of the church facility, which nearly daily hosts either church or community events of some kind. Once the current project is completed, the church will pivot to a renovation of its events center wing. That area, which was the church’s previous addition, will see a second floor built into its existing footprint.