As you may know, on Saturday, January 6th we along with our Trustees and community watched in pain as the building that we love at 3014 Meadowbridge Road was engulfed in flames.  We do not have adequate words to describe the emotions that we felt.  However, we found comfort in knowing that no one was physically hurt, and our community stood there with us wiping tears, giving us hugs and offering words of encouragement. As a church family we are encouraged by the love that has been pouring into us since Saturday, and our love for our Highland Park community could not be stronger.

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When God blessed us with this property, we used it to be a blessing to others.  Our building hosted many holiday meals, clothing and food giveaways, tutoring sessions, baby dedications, weddings, musical concerts, and the list could go on.  We left our building to begin the process of rehabilitating it so that we could use it at maximum efficiency to provide more excellence in ministry to each other and our community.  But not being inside our building did not stop our ministry to our community.  We held worship services and community cook outs in our parking lot.  We invited everyone to bring their lawn chairs and watch movies with us and provided snacks.  We hung clothing on the fence and lined shoes on the ground so that anyone who needed them could pick them up.  We filled our parking lot with love, laughter, prayer, and fellowship and looked forward to being back in our building.

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Our renovation process took much longer than we anticipated.  The first delay was due to the COVID pandemic and an inability to get the materials to begin the process. We received estimates of increases in products and labor costs that were astronomical.  As good stewards over our building funds, we made the wise decision to wait until our economy had improved to revisit plans, obtain new estimates, and start the work.  With the help of our amazing architects, we phased out the work to be done to get us back into our building.  Phase one was putting on a new roof.  On Thursday, January 4th we received notification that phase one was nearly completed with only minor details remaining, but ready for inspection by our Project Manager. Unfortunately, our Project Manager was not able to view our new roof, but the vestiges of a building that was a beacon of hope in our community, and a gathering place where love abounded.

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Since Saturday, we have shed many tears, but we will NEVER be defeated! As Pastor Micah reminded us, “Our God has not gone anywhere! We’re going to build, we’re going to have a home, we’re going to stay committed to our community”.  Please join us in prayer for our church family and community as we once again begin the process of rebuilding.  If you would like to help us with a monetary offering of love, please click one of the links below.  If you would like to send a check, please ensure that it is written to Seventh Street Memorial Baptist Church and it can be sent to P.O.Box 6095 Richmond, VA 23222.

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We Love To Love You!

     Pastor Micah and Dr. CC Jackson