ELDRED (EC) – Members of the Country Chapel Baptist Church, lead
by Pastor Bruce Ireland, came together Sunday morning to celebrate
the dedication of the new church sanctuary located in the old
Eldred Township Elementary School on Indian Creek Road.

Guest speaker Dr. Greg Estep founder, president, and residing
pastor of Emertius of Charity Baptist Church and Bible Institute in
Dayton, Ohio, preached the dedication ceremony.

Ireland, a resident of Eldred and graduate of the Charity
Baptist Bible Institute, started the chapel from scratch in
December 1995, using a one room family owned chapel on the Barnum
Road. Later, as the congregation grew, they moved to a bigger
facility on Indian Creek Road in November of 2000.

Growth has again driven the church to move to a larger facility
at the old Eldred Township Elementary School. A wall between two
classrooms has been taken out to make a beautiful setting for a
church sanctuary.

According to Ireland, “The Country Baptist Church is a friendly
country church that tries to help families through preaching the
truth straight from the Bible, loving people, and ministering to
them where they are in these hard times. For the last thirteen
years we have enjoyed seeing a lot of people come to know God,
families helped, put back together, and lives changed, all to the
glory of God.”

Future plans are to make a large multi-purpose room in the old
elementary gymnasium, a new kitchen in the old library, and a
nursery and Sunday school rooms in some of the other classrooms.

“As a church family we are excited about our future and thank
the Lord we are able to do this one step at a time and debt free in
the hard economic times that we now are living in,” Ireland said.

Service times are at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday and a 7 p.m.
Wednesday evening prayer and Bible study.