Welcome to GFBC

Journey to the Top!

JANUARY 30TH, 2005, THE FULL AMOUNT OF MONEY TO PAY OFF THE PROPERTY WAS RECEIVED.  By the wonderful grace of God the $330,000 need for PHASE III has also been fully funded by $ 250,000 in in-house loans and $ 80,000 in cash.  As we go forward with Phase IV we are seeking His provision for $ 80,000 for parking lot lighting, worship center seating and a perimeter wall if required by the City.

THANKS FOR PAYING AND GIVING!

Pastor George Heiland

Grace Fellowship Baptist Church has taken a bold step of faith in meeting the challenge for service in New Millennium. The purchase of 3.28 acres of land in the western section of the city is completed. The Site Plan has been approved. Construction will begin in several months.  By the providence of God, this will position GFBC for future growth and ministry in one of the fastest growing cities in Florida and in the country! Your prayer and support of this great opportunity is not only an investment in the future for GFBC. and our community; it is an investment in eternity!  

We are now entering Phase IV of our JOURNEY TO THE TOP.  

FINANCE$

How can you help!

click to Contact Us.

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Below is a summary of our progress and hindrances

as we seek to build on Leafy Road.

 

Leafy Road Property Grace Fellowship Baptist Church has closed on the property on Leafy Road in Port St Lucie. The 3.28 acre parcel is located south of Del Rio Boulevard. Study says road can handle church Residents had argued the extra traffic would overburden Leafy Road. By Jennifer Sorentrue staff writer April 17, 2002 PORT ST. LUCIE  Traffic congestion won't prevent construction of a church in a western Port St. Lucie neighborhood, city project engineers said Tuesday. A traffic study along Leafy Road shows the residential street can handle increased traffic from a Baptist church planned in the neighborhood. "A typical road can handle thousands of cars a day," said city project engineer Kim Graham. "With the addition of a church the level of service of the roadway won't be affected." According to the study, between 175 and 363 vehicles use Leafy Road daily far less than the 8,600 cars city project engineers say the road is capable of handling. Traffic counts were taken in February from two locations to ensure the city recorded accurate counts of the cars that use the road each day. Residents living along Leafy Road requested the study in January, saying the Grace Fellowship Baptist Church would bring too much traffic to the neighborhood. Residents claim the church could bring up to 350 cars a day to the neighborhood making it unsafe for children to play in the street. "It doesn't belong out here," said Gerri Venables, who has lived on Leafy Road for about 11 years. "It's not that they have church only on Sundays; they'll have bingo and Bible classes. We know it will be a lot of cars." Graham admits it's difficult to tell exactly how the church will affect traffic counts. "We really don't know how many cars are going to use the road," she said. "But even with the church, it would be well under 8,000 vehicles. Roads like California (Boulevard) don't even see that." Since Pastor George Heiland bought the 3.2-acre site on Leafy Road in January, residents have been opposed to the church's construction. The neighborhood petitioned the City Council to change the site's institutional zoning with allows for a church and designate it as a city park. But council members said there was nothing they could do to prevent the church from building in the neighborhood because the site has been zoned institutional since the city was incorporated in 1961. Venables said residents have been negotiating with Heiland to buy the site, but so far, no agreement has been reached.

Below is the article that appeared in the PSL News: 

January 16,2002

 By Jennifer Sorentrue News staff writer

 PORT ST. LUCIE - 

Faced with mounting opposition to construction of his church, 

Pastor George Heiland said Monday he's willing to sell the site on Leafy Road 

and build the church elsewhere.

 About 70 residents in the western Port St. Lucie neighborhood have signed a
petition to prevent the Baptist church's construction, saying it will
increase traffic in their residential area.

 At Monday night's City Council meeting, residents asked the city to change
the site's institutional zoning and designate the 3.2-acre site a city park.

 "This is nothing about a church; it is about our little neighborhood," said
Russell Knowles, who lives on Leafy Road. "Traffic is our No. 1 issue. We are
concerned about the traffic and the size of the road."

 Residents said they are worried the church will cause their property values
to drop.

 "We've got churches going up everywhere, and I've got no problem," resident
J.B. Cline said. "The church is not a good neighbor. When they grow and move
out of the area, who takes care of the church?

 Heiland, pastor of Grace Fellowship Baptist Church, said he'd like to try to
make peace with the residents and is willing to sell the land if he can find
another institutionally zoned site.

 "It grieves me deeply to have the reaction we've had in regards to our
purchase of this property," said Heiland, whose congregation bought the
property this month for $120,000.

 "We would be more than happy to negotiate and move to another area," Heiland
said. "I don't think a church is something that should be shunned from a
community. I think we would be good neighbors."

 Council members said there was nothing they could do to prevent the church
from building in the neighborhood. The church site has been zoned
institutional since the city was incorporated in 1961, and council members
said the residents' concerns could be addressed after plans for the site are
submitted to the city.

 "They city would have to review the site plan, and that is the vehicle to
make sure transportation issues are addressed," City Attorney Roger Orr said.
"There is very little for the council to do. The city isn't involved with
this property at the moment."

 The 35-member church meets at the Ravenswood Recreation Center on Prima
Vista Boulevard, and Heiland said members want a permanent place to gather.

 The congregation tried to buy sites on North Torino Parkway and in the
Winterlakes development, Heiland said.

 After negotiating to buy the site off North Torino Parkway, Heiland said the
property owner sold the land to another buyer. The church lost the
Winterlakes site because developers donated the land to the city for a park,
he said.

 "At this point, we have been frustrated for every pursuit to get land,"
Heiland said. "This land seemed to fall into our laps. We felt it came from
God."

 Dan Moore, rector of Holy Faith Episcopal Church in Port St. Lucie, said
this is the third time he's seen a neighborhood oppose construction of a
church in the city. Moore said he is worried that opposition to church
construction is becoming a citywide trend.

 "The ironic thing is that as Port St. Lucie grows as a community, what is
now known as the 'not in my back yard' attitude now includes churches and
houses of worship," Moore said at the meeting.

 Residents of the Leafy Road neighborhood say they will meet Sunday to
discuss the possibility of purchasing buying the church property.

 Gerri Venables, who has lived on Leafy Road for about 11 years, said the
group will ask the city to buy the site and preserve it as green space.

 Homeowners say they were told when they bought their homes that the church
site was designated a bird sanctuary.

January 4th, 2002

GFBC Signing

 Guy Williams, seller and Dr. David Denny, Vice President of the Board of Directors of Grace Fellowship Baptist Church of St Lucie County, Inc.   signed closing documents on Land Purchase January 4th, 2002.  Plans for a first phase church building to accommodate  125 - 150 are in the early stages of design.

Guy Williams and Dr. David Denny

Clearing of Leafy Road Property Halted

The heavy equipment has done a preliminary clearing of the lot to prepare for the planting of a beautiful hedge to act as a buffer to adjoining residential properties.  Work has been brought to a stand-still due to the organized protest of the Leafy Road Neighbors.

Sometimes we feel like the story of The Refiner's Fire.  Surely God has something in mind for us as the neighbors turn up the heat. The lesson is found in Malachi 3:2&3. "2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 "And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness."

  Click on REFINER'S FIRE for the whole story!

We have been through the "fire" before we will survive, 

learn and profit by this one as well.

Leafy Road Neighbors Protest Church Site

We regret the opposition to our plans to clear the lot in preparation of our new church meeting house.  We have no intention of tearing down all the trees and creating an eyesore.  The City encourages land to be cleared of underbrush to minimize the danger of wild fires.  Have we forgotten the devastation just a few short years ago?  Furthermore, it our desire to be a blessing and inspiration to the neighborhood.  It seems that a church is a most fitting use for institutional property in a residential setting.  

We appreciated the Editorial in Sunday's Port St Lucie News dated December 23rd, 2001.  

Below is the entire article.

"An unwise protest; PSL group's reasoning flawed in 

balking at church building (PSL News Editorial)

 December 23,2001

 Some people in western Port St. Lucie - who could benefit from a refresher
course in our constitutional principle of property rights - object to the
building of a church on a parcel along Leafy Road. Why? Well, apparently just because. 

They seem to have no particular reason except that they don't like the idea of building anything there.

 The Grace Fellowship Baptist Church, whose congregation has been in
temporary quarters elsewhere in the city, is buying the Leafy Road parcel.
There, the congregation plans to put down roots, so to speak, and become a permanent, 

positive part of the neighborhood.

 However, about 20 nearby residents demonstrated at the site a few days ago
as workers began pre-construction clearing. They told a reporter they want to
see the wildlife and trees remain undisturbed, and that they plan to continue
protesting in various ways.

 Actually, the preservation impulse is not bad; most of us along the Treasure
Coast would like to save as much of our natural surroundings as is practical
- by carefully tailored acquisition and conservation programs, not by street
demonstrations and agitation.

 The protesters have a weak case because (1) it is not their land, and (2)
city officials say the parcel has been zoned for institutional use ever since
Port St. Lucie was incorporated in 1961. Anyone who has moved in nearby
during the past 40 years surely must be aware of the zoning, and must have
expected that sooner or later someone would want to build something on that
land. And as institutions go, there are many less-desirable things to have
alongside you than a house of worship.

 Granted, when you've lived in a locality for a few years and have grown used
to seeing some vacant land, with trees, bushes, birds and animals, it can be
disconcerting to learn of plans to build on the site. Yet a wish to have
things remain constant and familiar, although understandable, does not 

entitle these people to stop the owners from doing what is legally
permissible.

 This is not the first time a neighborhood group in St. Lucie or Martin
County has sought to block landowners from using their property in ways that
have been duly reviewed and zoned for appropriate uses. It is a worrisome
trend.

 What the Leafy Road protesters evidently want is to enjoy a neighborhood
nature preserve, at someone else's expense. They are not entitled to that. If
they remain determined to see the parcel stay vacant, they ought to form a
neighborhood corporation, put up their own money and buy it.

 Now, if the church is to be a "good neighbor" to the surrounding residents,
its leaders ought to plan carefully to preserve as much greenery as possible
on the site, and take other steps to avoid undue disruptions once the edifice
is built. With goodwill on both sides, people very likely can be reassured
and further conflict averted."

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