First Baptist Church, Tallahassee, FL
Building 4 Community Update

January 21 , 2007

The congregation gathered on Sunday evening to discuss the selection of an architect and the final stages of preliminary work before the Master Plan was developed. "This is a great opportunity at a strategic time," Dr. Dortch remarked as he opened the service. "Our conversation tonight is about facilities, but it is really about something more. It is about ministry and how we use our facilities to change hearts towards Jesus Christ."

TurnerBatson, the architectural firm chosen by the Building 4 Community committee, has that same vision in mind. Based out of Birmingham, Alabama, they consider themselves "church architects" with the completion of more than 800 church building projects. Samples of past projects showed them more than capable of maximizing our existing space, improving accessibility and circulation, and updating many areas of the church to meet our current needs.

The first stage in developing First's Baptist's Master Plan will involve a listening session in February. TurnerBatson will hear suggestions from groups out of 10 different areas of our church, including each age set and other special interest areas such as worship and fellowship. These suggestions will also be considered by the Building 4 Community committee to determine which ideas are a good fit for our church.

TurnerBatson predicts that it will take 4-6 months to deliver First Baptist's Master Plan. At that time, their architectural team will be able to provide graphic models of what the finished product will look like, and possibly even 3-D computer models to give an even better feel of what our church's future holds. With their expertise and our commitment to ministry downtown, the future certainly looks exciting for First Baptist!