NAPLES MEMBERS CELEBRATE NEW DEBT-FREE CHURCH

by Gladys Neigel
“Enter reverently, meditate quietly, worship sincerely, serve Christ faithfully,” reads the preamble each week in the Naples, Fla., Church bulletin. The 349 members demonstrated this faithfulness on March 16 when their church was dedicated debt free.
It was just two years from opening day of the new church building in April 2011 until the actual dedication and mortgage burning. The members’ formidable goal of quickly paying off the church debt was reached through the members’ sacrificial giving.
The journey began with the sale of the previous church and purchase of land under the direction of Daniel Smith, Building Committee Chairman. When Dan became ill, he handed the reigns to Kendall Chaffee who then made the new church a reality. “All Dan knew [before he passed away] was that we had the land free and clear due to the sale of our old church,” says his widow, Marlene Smith.
The 7.9-acre church site is located on Davis Boulevard which is a main thoroughfare from Interstate 75. The square footage of the facility, including the porte cochere, is 12,747.