KINGSTON The Rev. Canon Mark A. Pearson was one happy clergyman this Christmas season.

Two days before Christmas, Fire Chief Bill Seaman handed him the Permit to Operate a Place of Assembly for the new church building at 80 Route 125, and on Christmas Eve, Trinity Church held its first worship service there.

People driving along Route 125 in the southern part of Kingston for the last 14 months have noticed new construction just down the driveway leading to the New Creation Healing Center. Now that building is open.

Colonial New Englanders used the term Meeting House to describe the building in which both sacred and secular events were held. Because this is the intent for the new building, it will be called The Meeting House.

For years, New Creation Healing Center has offered seminars on wellness addressing the whole person body, soul and spirit. Some of these seminars taxed the facilities of the existing building.

With several special events planned for 2015, the much larger space is welcomed. Additionally, various events for the wider community will be held in The Meeting House, including classes on environmentally friendly gardening and various musical and dramatic events.

State of the art audio-visual equipment will be installed as funding becomes available. The acoustics have already proven wonderful for music.

The Meeting House is square and yellow because we wanted to pick up the Colonial architectural style of the existing medical/counseling/massage therapy building, Pearson said. We initially wanted something in the classic New England white church on the town green model. But the space we were allowed to build on was square, not rectangular. We looked into New England history and discovered that the classic New England white church was really the second style of Meeting House. What came first was a square building with a hip roof, topped with a widows walk, a small spire and bell. They were painted many different colors, but not white. Our model is the Old Ship Church in Hingham built in 1681. We copied the design of Old Ship in many ways, except we have electricity, indoor plumbing and heat. We trust no one, including architectural purists, will mind, Pearson said.

Pearson has a rich musical heritage. He was a fourth generation member of the Men and Boys Choir at Christ Church, Fitchburg, Mass., and later became a professional organist-choirmaster.

He said, Weve held various special services in the small chapel of the old building. Tenebrae during Holy Week and various services of Lessons and Carols have been much enjoyed despite the poor acoustics and limited seating. Were looking forward to holding these services in The Meeting House, as well as holding other services such as Taize worship. And since were also part of a healing center, we will continue to have healing services, but now on the handicapped-accessible ground floor.

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New church building opens in Kingston

Peachtree City, GA (PRWEB) January 15, 2015

Building God's Way (BGW), a nationwide church architect and builder network that provides a broad range of solutions to Christian ministries, announced that it has formed an exclusive partnership with Group VI Companies (Group VI) to build churches and Christian schools in the state of Georgia.

Group VI is one of Georgias leading full service construction, development and real estate firms. Over the last 25 years, the family owned and operated company has constructed more than 500 successful commercial projects throughout the Southeastern U.S. Group VI has extensive experience with faith-based projects as well as healthcare, entertainment, corporate office, tenant improvement, hospitality, government, education, and industrial projects. The company is currently constructing various projects across Georgia that range in size from $300,000 to $21,000,000.

Mason Drake, Vice President of Group VI Construction commented on the new partnership, "We are very pleased to be partnered with Building Gods Way. Dan Cook and the whole team have put together a remarkable track record of excellent and innovative service to churches, Christian schools and colleges across the country. We look forward to serving clients together with them throughout Georgia".

BGW partners with top church and school builders around the country that have both a heart for Christian ministry and a reputation and track record for constructing top quality buildings at affordable prices.

Dan Cook, founder of BGW, also commented on the new partnership, We are excited to partner with Group VI to bring the unique Building Gods Way approach to churches and Christian schools throughout the state of Georgia. Group VI shares our philosophy of Biblical stewardship and honoring God throughout the construction process. They also have a keen understanding of the need to think creatively about how we utilize church buildings in the 21st century.

BGW and Group VI will kick off their new partnership with a seminar event on March 10 in Atlanta. Churches throughout Georgia will be invited to attend this Momentum Summit event to hear presentations from Pastor Eric Bahme, author of the Book "The MBE (Mission-Based Entrepreneur) Revolution as well as representatives from Building Gods Way. The speakers will share innovative new strategies for 21st century church design and church construction as well as capital fundraising, for-profit integration, leadership development and A/V technology. For more information on this event or to register, visit http://www.bgwservices.com/seminar

About Building Gods Way - BGW has become a recognized leader in ministry design and construction through its extensive experience in working with hundreds of churches, Christian schools and colleges across the U.S. BGW's trademark programs based on Biblical stewardship and ministry on the construction job site have set them apart from other church builders and includes an unparalleled network of services, including church design, church building, leadership development, capital fundraising, for-profit integration, A/V technology and more. Visit http://www.bgwservices.com for more information.

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Building God's Way Announces Exclusive Partnership with Group VI Companies in the State of Georgia.

Honduras 100 Church Construction Time Laps
This is a time laps of the construction of church #85 of the Honduras 100 project with Builders International. You can find our more at: http://projects.buildersintl.org/projects/project/110.

By: Ryan Moore

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Honduras 100 Church Construction Time Laps - Video

Demolition of Holy Trinity Lithuanian Church on the corner of East South and South Meade streets in Wilkes-Barre, set to begin Monday, was delayed due to weather.

Stell Enterprises construction vehicles were parked outside of the church and a chain-link fence wrapped around the perimeter, but the building was untouched on Tuesday.

The foreman for Hadley Construction, the company subcontracted by Stell Enterprises, was on site Tuesday afternoon and said the demolition was held off due to the cold weather. The construction crews planned to tear down the church from the top down, but the cold temperatures hindered the crew from being able to begin on time.

Holy Trinity was closed in May 2010, after then-Scranton Diocese Bishop Joseph F. Martino announced that 72 parish communities in northern Luzerne County would be consolidated into 33 parishes over the next three years.

Shame on you Bishop was painted on a piece of cardboard attached to the front door, a message from those disgruntled with the demolition.

According to the foreman, who did not give his name, the razing is scheduled to begin this morning.

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Bad weather delays W-B church demolition

If you go

What: Martin Luther King Jr. March for Peace and Celebration

When: Participants assemble by 11:45 a.m. Monday. March starts at noon

Where: Marchers should assemble outside Lafayette Recreation Center, 111 W. Baseline Road

More information: CityofLafayette.com

Counter-protest: Meet between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m. Monday behind Pioneer Elementary School, 101 E. Baseline Road

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. March for Peace and Celebration in Lafayette on Monday will be shadowed by a smaller, parallel march protesting the traditional event's new choice of destination: Flatirons Community Church.

Lafayette resident BK Loren started contacting friends in recent days, hoping to stir up those who will voice their objections to the MLK event's association with the massive church that in March 2013 took a public stand against same-sex marriage.

Beyond that, Loren and her associates their group is too new to have a name, she said also are very uncomfortable with Flatirons' spreading real estate footprint in the city.

"What we are hoping for is to create a movement for a 21st century notion of civil rights. That's our overall goal," said Loren, who married her partner in Iowa in 2009.

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Lafayette's MLK event sparks protest over Flatirons Community Church

BLUE MOUNTAIN, MISS.January 14, 2015The 1964 rebuilding of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, which was destroyed for hosting civil rights activities, will be commemorated with a marker on the Mississippi Freedom Trail on Saturday, January 17, at 11 am. The unveiling will take place at 3651 County Road 700 in Blue Mountain. Several Oberlin alumni who took part in the church rebuilding will attend, and the event is open to the public.

The Mississippi Freedom Trail was launched in 2011 during the 50thanniversary of the Freedom Riders. Its mission is to commemorate the people and places of the Civil Rights era. The Carpenters for Christmas/Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is the 17th marker on the Trail, and it has been funded by Oberlin College alumni.

In October of 1964, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church was destroyed by fire after Fannie Lou Hamer led a Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party rally there. It was one of nearly 40 churchesin Mississippi that were burned or bombed during a six-month period. Churches had played a key role in the Mississippi Freedom Summer, which challenged the state's racial segregation and its exclusion of black citizens from voting. Civil rights activitiessuch as meetings, freedom election polling places, and Freedom Schoolsoften took place in these churches, which then became a target for segregationists.

A group of students and faculty from Oberlin College hoped to attract national media attention to the destruction of churches in the South, and they chose to rebuild Antioch Missionary Baptist Church to highlight the problem. Nearly two dozen Oberlin students and three faculty members traveled from Ohio to Blue Mountain, Miss., to rebuild the church with donated materials and volunteer labor. Calling themselves Carpenters for Christmas, they began construction on December 22. By Christmas Day, they had built a foundation and four walls, and the church's pastor, the Rev. John R. McDonald, was able to lead a Christmas service in the new structure. By January 2 the building was operable again as a church and meeting place for civil rights activities. The Carpenters for Christmas project succeeded in attracting widespread national media attention and increasing awareness of the need to protect Southern churches who supported civil rights.

For information about the Mississippi Freedom Trail, visit http://visitmississippi.org/#civil-rights or contact Sarah McCullough, Cultural Heritage Program Manager, atsmccullough@mississippi.orgor 601-359-3297.

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Church Rebuilt by Volunteers During Civil Rights Movement to Receive Marker

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LAS CRUCES Its been almost 50 years since the iconic St. Genevieve Catholic Church vanished from downtown Las Cruces. Many longtime residents have bemoaned its loss.

But with plans to build a civic plaza, almost on the same site where the old church stood, there is a possibility a glimmer that another church could be built downtown, either next to or adjacent to the proposed public gathering area.

We are open to studying the possibilities of building a chapel or church, said Bishop Oscar Cant, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces. In many New Mexico communities plazas have been graced by a church, and very often a cathedral.

But Cant was quick to add there are other issues, other projects, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces that would take priority. There are other churches in other parishes that need to be built or renovated. Specifically, he pointed out a church is needed on the citys East Mesa, and efforts continue to build a church and associated facilities for the dioceses newest parish, St. John Paul II, in Santa Teresa.

There are aging churches in need of renovations or restoration throughout the diocese. Also, the dioceses population continues to rise. An estimated 120,000 Catholics are now living in the dioceses boundaries, which include all of southern New Mexico, and Cant said the church has to be prepared to meet the growing needs of its worshippers.

Still, building a church in downtown Las Cruces, which could range from a small chapel to a cathedral, could happen.

Cant emphasized there would have to be one important aspect in building a church.

I dont make these decisions by myself, Cant said. It is going to need community support to come behind it.

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Bishop: A Catholic church in downtown Las Cruces is a possibility

Perryville, MO man dies in construction site incident in IL Perryville, MO man dies in construction site incident in IL

Updated: Monday, January 12 2015 6:32 PM EST2015-01-12 23:32:43 GMT

The Madison County, Ill. Coroner's Office is investigating the death of a Perryville, Mo. man.

The Madison County, Ill. Coroner's Office is investigating the death of a Perryville, Mo. man.

Updated: Monday, January 12 2015 9:48 PM EST2015-01-13 02:48:44 GMT

Funeral arrangements have been made for a 19-year-old who died after he was shot in the head during a robbery attempt in downtown St. Louis.

Funeral arrangements have been made for a 19-year-old who died after he was shot in the head during a robbery attempt in downtown St. Louis.

Updated: Monday, January 12 2015 4:21 PM EST2015-01-12 21:21:31 GMT

An East Prairie, Mo. woman has been charged in connection with a forgery investigation.

An East Prairie, Mo. woman has been charged in connection with a forgery investigation.

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Reward offered for information on construction site theft

St Michael Church 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Church Construction
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By: Bordigoy20

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St Michael Church 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Church Construction - Video

A small church nestled in a Sri Lankan wildlife reserve was on the frontline of the island's decades-long civil war, but is now preparing for the first ever papal visit seen as a beacon of harmony

In a picture taken on January 11, 2015, Sri Lankan priest Emilianuspillai Santhiapillai (background R) leads Sunday Mass at The Our Lady of Madhu church in Madhu. Munir Uz Zaman/AFP

MADHU, Sri Lanka A small church nestled in a Sri Lankan wildlife reserve was on the frontline of the island's decades-long civil war, but is now preparing for the first ever papal visit seen as a beacon of harmony.

The Our Lady of Madhu church is a pilgrimage destination in the island's north for Catholics from both the Tamil and the majority Sinhalese communities, making it a rare symbol of reconciliation in a country riven by ethnic and religious divisions.

Emilianuspillai Santhiapillai, the church's administrator, expects at least half a million people to attend on Wednesday, January 14, when Pope Francis will fly in by helicopter for a religious service.

The first papal visit to the island in two decades comes after the surprise ousting of former president Mahinda Rajapakse, who oversaw the army's violent suppression of the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 and faced criticism for failing to bring about post-war reconciliation.

The pope is expected to bring a message of ethnic and religious harmony an idea that chimes with the hopes resting on Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena, who enjoyed strong electoral support among Tamils and other minorities.

"We needed change," said 51-year-old construction engineer Palitha Rodrigo, a Sinhalese Catholic who travelled 300 km (180 miles) from Colombo to attend mass at the church.

"He (Rajapakse) could have done more things for the Tamils. We don't want to have fighting in Sri Lanka."

Sri Lanka is a majority-Buddhist country, but it has a sizeable Catholic minority, accounting for around 6% of its 20 million people. Hindus represent around 13% and are mostly Tamil.

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Church in Sri Lanka warzone prepares for papal visit