Community Bible, S.A. TX! An Inspiring Church Success Story!

How Pastor Robert Emmitt & Congregation OVERCAME ALL OBSTACLES at San Antonio, TX

Of course, he also didn't expect to gain 1,000 new members after Community Bible church's opening weekend.

So in order to accommodate the church's growth for at least the next couple of years, Community Bible church last year purchased another 36 acres of land adjacent to its current site -- which is located along North Loop 1604, between Gold Canyon and Redland roads.

Work recently began on a project that will ultimately give Community Bible church a new 92,700-square-foot sanctuary and a 37,200-square-foot educational building.

The new parking lot for the expanded Community Bible church should be ready in the next couple of weeks, says Emmitt, who has been the pastor of Community Bible church since it was founded in 1990.

Construction on the sanctuary is set to begin in August -- with a targeted opening date of fall 2004. Construction on the education building is slated to begin in the summer of 2004 -- with a targeted completion date of spring 2005.

Total construction costs will range between $13 million and $17 million, Emmitt says.

San Francisco-based Bank of the West is financing the project in its entirety for Community Bible church, Emmitt adds. Over time, that loan from Bank of the West will be paid back through long-term commitments that church members have made to the project.

Souls are Won & Community Bible Grows to over 5,500 Members

Not bad for a church that started out in the restaurant of the La Quinta Airport East on May 26, 1990. After a few weeks, Community Bible church moved to the old Fox Theater at Central Park Mall, Emmitt says.

A couple of months later, Community Bible church became a tenant in the Hill Country Village shopping center -- which is located off of U.S. Highway 281 North in North San Antonio.

Seven years later, Community Bible church was on the move again -- to its current site off of Loop 1604.

The exterior of both the planned sanctuary and the education building will be stone and stucco -- mixing in with the existing Community Bible church building, Emmitt says. That existing building will be converted into a youth-services center once the new construction is completed.

The new buildings will not be made of the most flashy of materials. Emmitt says he is more concerned about creating something functional, rather than ornamental.

"It will be a place for people to use to their benefit," says local developer James Allen, who worked with Emmitt to acquire the 36 acres for Community Bible church's expansion.

"We want (our church) to be a place where people hang around and visit after services," Emmitt adds.

Of course, they also have to be able to get to the services. As part of Community Bible church's purchase of its latest 36 acres, the church also agreed to expand Gold Canyon Road, so that it feeds out to U.S. Highway 281 North.

"It's going to be fantastic," says Emmitt of the finished project, adding that, at present, the only way in or out of Community Bible church is via the access road off 1604. So now the trick is to see if this project can sustain Community Bible church's growth for the next couple of years.

After all, if history is any indication, Community Bible church may be in for quite an expansion -- community-wise -- once its latest expansion project is complete.

"I like to think of ourselves as the vegetable soup church of San Antonio," quips Emmitt about Community Bible church's popularity.

"We take every denomination and non-denominational person. And I think it helps that I'm one of the few left-handed Aggie preachers."