The congregation is a few weeks away from completing a five-year renovation project at the former Robinson’s Health Facility on Brunswick Avenue, across the street from Laura E. Richards School.
In the church’s new space, a number of walls were removed to open up the space for a sanctuary and fellowship hall. Patient rooms were turned into classrooms and offices. The large floor plan includes a fellowship hall, large conference rooms, a food pantry, library, a youth area with pool and foosball tables, several classrooms, and a nursery.
The building has a backup generator and commercial kitchen and is in the process of becoming a certified disaster relief center, he said.
“The kitchen is the same as it was when it was a nursing home,” he said. “We have people here who like to cook big pots of food.”
Dickey said the church will hold an open house on May 19 following a dedication service at 10 a.m.
The public is invited to the service and open house. Refreshments will be served.
“We’ll be giving tours and talking about what we’re doing and what the future has to hold,” Dickey said.
The church’s old home just south of the State House complex had a lot of zoning issues, and that limited what could be done with that property, so it was on the market several years, said Richard Dickey of Richmond, a church member.