October 1, 2026
WINSTON, Ga. — Ephesus Baptist Church broke ground on Sunday, March 15, for a new facility that will serve the needs of a growing student ministry in the life of the church. Pastor Billy Godwin selected a group of church leaders to form what he has referred to as an “Exploration Team” to identify the physical and spiritual the needs of the church, make a God-approved recommendation, and lead the church to embrace their proposal.
The church’s Building Committee overseeing this project is made up of Ray Nash, chairman, Rick Spriggs, and Clay Phipps, all of whom have expertise in construction and real estate. Nash addressed the congregation on March 15 and explained, “We all need to be grateful to God for bringing us to this point. God has had his fingerprints all over this from the beginning, and thankfully we are in a good financial position as we enter the construction of this building program.”
Nash cited Deuteronomy 6:6-7 saying, “We believe this building will help us in our ministry to our students, but it will also help us reach out to others who are not here yet.”
During Godwin’s ministry, the needs of the preschool children have been met, a large atrium was constructed and has become a gathering place for multiple functions, and the adults have been provided with additional educational space, but the students have been meeting in an inadequate and outdated space for some time.
The new student building will provide a large auditorium with an impressive platform and a seating capacity for more than 200 individuals, a recreational area designed for fellowship and a variety of games, and a café.
The construction of the building is designed with a folding wall so that as many as 400 can be accommodated for meals, and a commercial kitchen is included as a part of the facility.
Daniel Courson, student pastor at Ephesus, stated, “This will be an amazing enhancement to our ministry. It will not do our work for us, but it will be a wonderful tool as we seek to improve and enrich our watch care and service to students. Hopefully, it will become a centerpiece for our ministry and help us as we try to instill within our students a deeper relationship with Jesus.”
The student ministry at Ephesus is strong and vibrant. They just completed their “D Now” (Disciple Now) weekend and had scores of students involved. Courson is the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Character Coach for the Alexander High School baseball team, and not only provides a brief devotion for the team each week, but has a Bible study for them on Tuesday nights. Recently, he reported, 36 of their 41 team members attended.
There are 75 students who have signed up for Lifeway’s FUGE Camp at Berry College this summer. A significant number of students will be going to Alaska on a mission trip in a few months, and others will be on a team of volunteer missionaries going to Romania during the summer break.
Godwin expressed gratitude for the way the church ministered to all three of his children and he has taken a decidedly focused interest in the church’s youth himself. He stated, “This building project will likely cost $6 million, but we already have more than $4.5 million, and I am praying that we will not have to borrow any money and that we will have enough cash on hand to pay all our bills when the project is completed.”
"We are also getting a new pavilion,” explained Godwin. “We built that old pavilion 33 years ago, shortly after I arrived as pastor, and I was sad to see it torn down, but the new one we are building will be so much bigger and better. It will provide a larger place for church events that focus on fellowship. It will also have a full basketball court with retractable goals. It will provide three pickleball courts and will have bathrooms as well.
After Godwin’s comprehensive report on what the congregation could expect in the next year and the joyful anticipation of what was taking place, he turned to Psalm 78 and challenged the people to hear the words of Asaph, the Psalmist, who stated, “We will not hide them (the words of our fathers) showing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He that done.”
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