Devotional Baptist Church
With a sanctuary designed for 200+, extra room for fellowship, and a fully-accessible gymnasium, Devotional adds more than just a beautiful building to the area, but a welcoming place for community.
As part of the North Park redevelopment project, developer Larry Chapman offered to relocate Devotional Baptist Church to a new property and to build them a brand new facility. The new site is prominently located on Hanley Road, giving Devotional a new level of visibility for connecting to the community of Kinloch.
Collaborating closely with Larry Chapman, BEX Construction and Devotional Baptist Church leaders, Vessel designed a new church that included every function from the previous building, and then some. The previous building, which had reached the end of its life cycle, enclosed two stories, with inaccessible toilets, low ceilings and poor lighting. The new building is designed on one fully-accessible level. Other highlights of the new design include:
A brick sanctuary with a soaring ceiling, natural daylight and seating for 285. The oak pews from the previous building were restored, their upholstery cleaned and moved to the new building.
An expansive A/V control booth
An office suite for the Pastor and his staff
A properly sized lobby with plenty of natural light
A gymnasium with full basketball court
From the beginning, Vessel set a goal of including a gymnasium in the project. This was ambitious for the budget, since the original building did not include a secondary gathering space that large. Throughout the project, BEX Construction offered tremendous resources to control the budget. A pre-engineered metal building system was chosen for the building’s structure and envelope, and building systems were designed in close coordination with the entire team. Working together, we were able to meet the budget and provide Devotional Baptist with a significant space to offer their community.
On Sunday, August 7, 2016, Devotional Baptist Church celebrated its inaugural service in their new worship space! Pete and his wife Bonnie attended the service, which brought together current church members, as well as family and friends from surrounding congregations: "The number of people celebrating and the amount of grateful hearts was overwhelming; I don't think you could have fit one more excited person in that building," Pete noted.
Project Data
Location: Kinloch, Missouri
Completion: 2016
Size (sf): 10,914 sf
Contractor: BEX Construction
Structural: J&M Engineering
MEP: Design/Build
Project Staff
Thank you to everyone at Vessel who had a hand in such a meaningful project. Pastor Earbie Bledsoe, we are grateful for this kind and memorable gift!