Ministry News

Church in a Day

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Tuesday, 01 December 2009 11:42

We've written about a few churches that helped struggling members repair run-down houses. And in recent months, even the secular media has highlighted groups getting together to build a church in a week, a la Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But one Texas ministry has just upped the ante: church in a day.

South Texas Church in a Day (CIAD)—yes, that's the organization's name—does exactly what its name indicates, building a church building for needy congregations in a mere 24 hours (give or take a few hours). An extension of the United Pentecostal Church International, the nonprofit sends an army of skilled workers to congregations that can't afford to rebuild their dilapidated meeting places or start their own construction.

Bob Steele, project manager for a recent build in Brenham, Texas, says most of CIAD's work is aimed at what he calls "starter churches." "They have the theology and promotion skills in order. But most 'starter churches' don’t have construction experience,” Steele says. "So this program was started to help that need."

Steele's recent project involved recruiting a team of 150 volunteers to help Iglesia Pentecostal Unida de Brenham, a small Spanish-speaking church that lost its building to a fire in August. With no insurance to cover property losses, the church was between a rock and a hard place until connecting with CIAD. Because a concrete foundation was already present, Steele's crew began framing before sunrise on a Friday morning and had the project completed by Saturday.

Most of CIAD's buildings are designed for congregations of 200-300 people and include a 4,000-square-foot building with sanctuary, Sunday school classrooms and meeting rooms. And although Iglesia Pentecostal Unida de Brenham happened to be within CIAD's founding denomination, the organization has worked on more than 100 projects around the world representing all facets of Christendom.

"It's just classical volunteer people," Steele says. "You'll find people from all walks of life and faiths ... a broad spectrum of people." [brenhambanner.com, 11/21/09]