New church holds services in funeral home
Each Saturday afternoon a trailer loaded with church furnishings pulls into Homestead Funeral Home. A group of dedicated workers from New Beginnings Christian Fellowship unloads the trailer and transforms the funeral home from a place that few want to visit into a spirit filled praise and worship church that draws about 70-80 church members and visitors each Sunday.
Pastor Perry Crenshaw said when he first learned of the availability of Homestead, he resisted holding services there. But after looking at other options he found schools are not leased on Sundays, the YMCA has too many activities, Ruthe Jackson Center already has church services, and store fronts were too expensive, Homestead became a good solution for the new church. It has a chapel, rooms for counseling and a nursery, and facilities to prepare refreshments and food for the after church fellowships.
New Beginnings began monthly meetings at Homestead in June to setup work teams, work out technical problems and develop a praise and worship format. The church began weekly services on October 11.
Pastor Crenshaw said another advantage to meeting in the funeral home, it allows for the church to add a second service and he would have to look into that when attendance reaches about 120.
