Yesterday was a great day at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new campus of Welch College at Gallatin, Tennessee. Between 350 and 400 Welch College faculty, staff, students, alumni, denominational supporters, representatives of the Gallatin and Sumner County governmental, educational, non-profit, and business communities, friends, and neighbors attended the event.
Owing to wet weather in the days before the event, we were unable to have the groundbreaking on the main part of the new campus site as we had previously planned. Thus we moved the ceremony to Station Camp High School, whose leaders were so kind to offer us the use of their campus for our celebration. That morning, when we arrived, it was not raining. So we made the decision to go across the street after our initial remarks indoors and break ground on the extreme northernmost section of the property.
In the photo above, you will notice that I am breaking ground along with Gallatin Mayor Paige Brown and Keith Burden, Executive Secretary of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, both of whom gave remarks; Board Chairman Terry Pierce and CEO of the Free Will Baptist Foundation David Brown, both of whom offered prayers; as well as Paul Eitel our contractor from Focus Design Builders and our architect Jim Sherrer of Design Development Architects. We are surrounded by members of the Welch College Board of Trustees, President’s Leadership Team, and Relocation Task Force.
The groundbreaking was a great event for Welch College, and the spirit of those gathered there yesterday is emblematic of the excitement surrounding the construction of our new campus. I ask all our friends and supporters to pray and think about what you can do to help financially in this once-in-a-lifetime transition.
I encourage you to view photographs and a video of scenes from the groundbreaking ceremony here. If you would like to read theTennessean article about the event, you can find it here. For more on the Building on the Legacy capital campaign for the new campus of Welch College, keep checking here; we will be updating the site as we move forward with the campaign. I look forward to unveiling more at the National Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, next week. I want to thank everyone for your prayers and support for this historic endeavor!