Fifth Avenue Baptist moving
The church is headed to West Rome, where it will take on the new name of Providence Baptist Church.
The congregation of Fifth Avenue Baptist Church will be on the move this fall. The church, which sold its Fifth Avenue campus to Trinity United Methodist Church in 2016, has continued to meet in the historic building.
It now has purchased the former Floyd County Baptist Association facility for $450,000, and hopes to move into the new building in mid-October.
The membership has also agreed to change the name to Providence Baptist Church, which will be at 17 Burnett Ferry Road. Elder Brent Wells, who was called to serve as the new pastor of the church on July 16, said the name Providence is rooted in the guidance, leadership and protection of God.
Wells, who grew up in Coosa and attended Berry College, is replacing the Rev. John Geaney. Wells said he went to Memphis in 1994 for what was going to be a 10-week mission trip, ended up getting married and staying in the Memphis area for 22 years before returning to Rome with his wife and four children.
“We’re in the process of doing a little light renovation work,” Wells said. The building once housed a funeral home, then a Latino church before it was acquired by the Baptist Association.
A wall that Wells said was constructed by the Baptist Association to help create office space from the original funeral home chapel area, is being removed to create the main sanctuary area. Other than that a few minor changes to the structure are being made, along with some landscaping improvements.
Wells said the decision to sell the historic Fifth Avenue property to Trinity Methodist for $925,000 was one the church felt like it had to make. “Back in the heyday Fifth Avenue ran a thousand people Sunday morning,” Wells said. He said more recently the church was pouring more of its resources into upkeep of the property as opposed to helping people.
At the time of the sale, Trinity agreed to allow the Baptist congregation to stay in the church for up to two years while it was seeking a new home.
Wells said at one time the church considered purchasing property and constructing a completely new facility. “This was almost turn-key ready,” Wells said.
Elder Adam Lombard said the sanctuary in the new building would seat approximately 240.
The building on Burnett Ferry Road was at one time home to Parnick Jennings West Oak Chapel Funeral Home. He sold it to a Latino congregation in 2002 and that group sold it to the Floyd County Baptist Association in 2008.
Meanwhile, the Floyd County Baptist Association is relocating to 308 Redmond Road, former home to Cornerstone church. Work was underway to replace the roof on that building Saturday.