posted May 14, 2008
A commitment made decades ago by a local church to maintain its metropolitan presence will be reaffirmed with the opening of its new $6 million student and youth facility.
First-Centenary United Methodist Church will celebrate its Oak Street Center addition and the completion of renovations to other church facilities on May 28. The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce will conduct a ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. and a public open house will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Designed as a place for young people to gather for study, fellowship and growth, Oak Street Center was built on the corner of Oak and Houston Streets in downtown Chattanooga. The new facility is connected to First-Centenary’s existing facilities by a bridge which spans Oak Street, signifying in design one church and one community.
The downtown Chattanooga expansion is significant for First-Centenary because the growth shows the commitment made by church membership years before to be a metropolitan church. Serving the inner-city community instead of opting for suburban relocation was visionary.
The Oak Street Center houses The Vine, First-Centenary’s contemporary worship service, which had outgrown its space in the church gym. Classroom space in the center provides room for the church’s growing ministry to singles and for training people for the ministry, and in the fall a café for UTC students and downtown workers will open in the new center.
The expansion also opens more space for First-Centenary’s Inner City Ministry, which utilizes the gymnasium formerly occupied by The Vine. The Inner City Ministry has been part of the church’s downtown commitment since 1967. Thousands of inner city youth have been served by committed staff and church volunteers.
“Years ago this church made a commitment to downtown Chattanooga,” said First-Centenary United Methodist Church Senior Minister Dwight Kilbourne. “This expansion shows the church is more committed than ever before to serving the diversified needs of the metropolitan community.”
Designed by CDH Architects of Marietta, Ga., and constructed by The Strauss Company of Chattanooga, the 19,500 square foot Oak Street Center provides, in addition to its church needs fulfillment, viable meeting and conference space for community groups and ministries, while the renovation to existing church facilities allows First-Centenary to expand its music, children and television ministries.
“We have had a strong presence downtown but this is a strengthening of our roots,” Mr. Kilbourne said. “We want to continue to grow and meet the changing needs of the community. This new center and renovation makes it possible.”
First-Centenary United Methodist Church was created in 1967 by the merger of two downtown Chattanooga churches, Centenary Methodist, established in 1839, and First Methodist, established in1865.
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