BY Derek Micah Armstrong Like the parable about the wise man who built his house on the rock. Northern Hills Christian Church of Englewood recently celebrated their groundbreaking for their new church. Already being built on the "rock" across the street from Northmont High School on National Road, the church has planned a three stage process for building their new facility. The first stage, which will be 8.000 square feet when completed, consists of a multipurpose room and classrooms. "We designed it small so that we could get into it inexpensively," said Northern Hills Christian Church's pastor Brian Jones. "It will accommodate a good size auditorium which will be used for multi-purposes, as well as classrooms." The second phase will be located directly behind the building, with a large multipurpose room for worship services and the third phase will be a permanent sanctuary. The first stage is expected to be completed Sept, 1. "I drove out to the new site the other day and just sat there," said Jones, a 1993 graduate of Princeton Seminary. Only three years old, Northern Hills Christian Church is a nondenominational independent church with a congregation just short of 200 people. "We wish to be Christians only without worrying about denominational labels," said Jones. "We just want to follow the New Testament as accurately as possible." It all began when Jones and his wife Lisa, moved from Clearwater, Florida to Englewood in June of 1994 with no members, no church and little money. But with the support of the Miami Valley Evangelizers Association, the church has grown. Northern Hills Christian Church If you are planning to attend a service at Northern Hills Christian Church sometime in the near future, be sure to come with a clear idea of your desired color scheme for the exterior of your home. Englewood City Council announced at its meeting last Tuesday that it has granted the church permission to conduct its services at the former MAB paint store location in Englewood's Country Square Plaza. Northern Hills Christian Church, which is only in its second year of its existence has been conducting its weekly Sunday services at Northmont Junior High School. Brian Jones, senior minister at the church, stated that the toil of setting up and tearing down the worship hall each week was the main factor which influenced the church to seek a more permanent, yet temporary location. An increasing number of new church members also played a role in the decision. "We have grown from just my wife and I to 160 members in only one year," said Jones. Jones, who grew up east of Columbus, is responsible for the establishment of Northern Hills Christian Church. He had served as minister at First Christian Church in Clearwater, Florida before coming, at the request of the Miami Valley Evangelizers, to create the nondenominational church aimed at serving the Northmont area. "I wanted to come back (to Ohio) and start a church for non-church people," stated Jones. "I thought it would be a different, yet refreshing change for people." Services at the former MAB location are set to begin the first weekend of June and will continue to be held there until fall of 1997 when construction of an actual church for the group is completed. Northern Hills Christian Church will then be permanently located on 11 acres of land across from Northmont Junior High School. |