'Build a Church in a Day' initiative gives Hamilton church its first new home in 6 years

HAMILTON, Ohio - The North Point Church congregation has been meeting in rented facilities for the past six years. Now the Pentecostal organization will be moving into a permanent building on Hancock Avenue this weekend.

The catch is that the building of the church did not start until 5 a.m. Friday morning.

The construction is part of the Pentecostal Church International's (PCI) "Build a Church in a Day" initiative.

Nearly 300 volunteers from around the United States and Canada worked in shifts throughout a 24-hour period to get the project finished. The organization estimates that about $200,000 in labor was donated along with $100,000 in materials.

That time and money will allow the North Point Church to move in to its new home Saturday and host its first service on Sunday after a ribbon cutting that’s scheduled to take place at 10 a.m.  

The new 3,000 square foot building will have three Sunday School classes, and can host up to 120 visitors. 

North Point Church member and Hamilton resident Mike Johnson volunteered today and last year at a "Build a Church in a Day" event in Indiana. He says he enjoys the work, fellowship and results.

"It's really a rewarding project," Johnson said. "I think I've got the church in a day bug. It's nice that this church, we're actually going to have a permanent location and building here to have services."

The Build a Church in a Day effort started in Arkansas when a woman prayed that a building would be built for her church. When her pastor learned of her request to God, he called as many people as he could to volunteer time and materials. 

That first church was built in a single day.

Since then, the PCI has built 101 churches in a day, including the one constructed in Hamilton.  

The PCI group hopes that the initiative is contagious so more volunteers, skilled or unskilled, get involved and more churches can be built (in one day).