September 9, 2024
BRASELTON, Ga. – On April 30th North Metro First Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Frank Cox had a groundbreaking on their new 34 acres of property located at the intersection of I-85 and Highway 211 (Chateau Elan Exit) and the address will be: 1047 Highway 124, Braselton.
This will be the second relocation of the church Cox has pastored for almost 43 years. The church, first called Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Duluth, moved 10 miles north to Lawrenceville in 1995 and changed the name to North Metro First Baptist Church.
The journey to relocate for a second time began seven years ago when Cox was driving to two hospitals to make pastoral calls. He commented, “I passed by several churches in another county that were once great stalwart churches of a previous generation, but now they are shadows of what they once were in the 1960s and 1970s.
“God began to stir my heart and I prayed, ‘I don’t want to see North Metro become a shadow of its best days.’ It was obvious that our church had become engulfed by commercial zoning that had pushed the people further north. A cross culture team we organized to study the situation discovered that we were experiencing a drastic change commercially, demographically, and economically.
“On the first Sunday night in March 2020 the team brought their report to the church and recommended a relocation. With 1,000 people present we voted to approve the recommendation with only three dissenting votes. We have tried to be prayerful, considerate, and methodical in all the decisions we have made along the way.”
For the groundbreaking ceremony, the church erected a 1000-seat tent. The people parked in an industrial park next to the new location, but the church chartered four commercial buses to transport them to the new location and the long-anticipated service. Designated church leaders were assigned the responsibility of providing those being shuttled on the buses with various announcements relating to what they could expect upon arrival.
“This relocation will cost approximately $31,000,000,” explained Cox, “but with the money received from the sale of our current property and the capital funds we have received to date we should have a manageable debt that should be retired in a relatively brief period of time.
“Our building will be designed like a mall. The building complex will be very community friendly with recreational amenities in our green spaces that will be inviting to the community. We will also have a coffee shop that will provide a gathering place for meeting friends, a place to come and work – a place that will be open to those who need an hour to relax.”
