Nothing could stop this unified congregation from getting its much-needed expansion and renovation project completed on time
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
From the first sermon he delivered at Collinsville Baptist Tabernacle in 2017, Pastor Gary Boyd felt right at home.
Apparently, the congregation shared his sentiment. Growth endured until, in Spring 2024, the need for expansion and renovation was undeniable.
Though Boyd is a pastor on the younger side, he knew — because he’d heard it over and over — that 80-percent capacity was a sort of harbinger for most church expansion projects.
“By then, we were running over 90-percent capacity in a 270-seat space at CBT,” he recalls. “We also had a very small lobby, and trying to get everyone in and out of that space and to the different classrooms created quite a bottleneck.”
The limitations were about more than logistics; the lobby wasn’t the kind of space that invited people to stick around and make connections. “Essentially, everyone was trying to squeeze through as quickly as possible,” Boyd says. “It was just claustrophobic.”
So, the wish list was evident: a new building to accommodate expanding classrooms, additional worship space, and a venue for community services and gatherings. What wasn’t so evident was what to do next.
For starters, this was Boyd’s first building project as a pastor. Plus, Baptist Tabernacle had a certain way of doing things that dated back to the 1950s: by churchwide vote.
“Some things are just ingrained in the culture and predate my involvement, but doing that vote actually relieved some pressure,” he explains. “It meant that this wasn’t going to be just my decision. We used the vote to get people on board and make it clear — from the beginning — that this would be a group effort.”
That group agreed, voting with 97 percent approval to expand and renovate the campus.
BEFORE
AFTER
COLLABORTION CREATES A VISION
Having secured widespread buy-in, CBT just needed someone to help make it all a reality.
Boyd and the building committee got to work researching. They selected multiple nationally known church design-builders to interview. After several rounds, they enlisted Broken Arrow, Okla.-based Churches by Daniels.
First, as Boyd says, the committee appreciated that Churches by Daniels is local to Tulsa.
“More than that, it was their professionalism,” he adds. “I know [the firm] has much, much bigger projects than ours, but I never felt like we were lesser; we got great, personalized attention throughout.”
The process kicked off with an in-depth consultation to create a vision. All the stakeholders came to the table to understand the church’s needs and aspirations. Together, they reviewed design plans, set timeline expectations, and outlined the construction process. With a project timeline of 12 months, the Daniels and CBT teams worked closely to create a roadmap that balanced ambition with practical milestones.
Having lived with the limitations of their facility for years, Boyd and his team knew exactly what they needed. It would be up to the Daniels team to map out what accommodating those needs would look like. Two main objectives emerged: more lobby space and a reimagined worship area.
A new addition would combine brick and metal construction to expand the worship center, create additional classrooms, and provide versatile spaces for community services and gatherings.
“The new worship space seats 500, not including people on the platform,” Boyd says. “Between the choir and the orchestra, we can put another 40 people on the platform, which essentially doubles the space that we had before.”
Meanwhile, lobby and gathering spaces were quadrupled, which was a huge relief for Boyd and his team. “Before that, we had people everywhere,” he recalls. “My class met in my office; we even had people meeting in the kitchen!”
Now, the vastly expanded space is much more conducive for small group gatherings. “We’ve seen a big-time easing-up of the space restrictions for our classrooms,” Boyd says. “[Daniels] built a great green room for us behind the platform, which we can use if we need to. And the lobby is big enough that we can accommodate two different small groups meeting on opposite ends, which has really helped.”
Being able to accommodate community services and gatherings was also priority for church — one which was met, and then some.
“We have lots of fellowship time in there for the church, but also we’ve rented it out for baby showers, birthday parties and graduations,” he points out. “We already had a long history of using our gym for sporting events, but it’s great to be able to welcome the community into our lobby now as well.”
PRESERVING HERITAGE
At this point, it might seem like functionality took priority. On the contrary: form was an equally important directive for the Daniels team. In particular, Boyd and his committee were determined to preserve the traditional aesthetic of a Baptist church — and nothing spoke to that look louder than CBT’s iconic steeple, a cherished symbol in the community.
“We used to be downtown in the main part of Collinsville and had a very simple building, but when they moved here, they built the steeple and integrated it into our logo,” Boyd explains. “You can see it from miles around. I live about five miles east of the church and I can see the steeple from my house.”
Cranes took it down. After years of exposure, the steeple was pitted and “needed work,” to put it simply: restoration, plus an upgrade of its structure for durability. Lichens were removed. It was repainted and all the windows — yellowed with time — were replaced. The steeple was placed on a 40-foot base while teams waited for the right time to put it back up.
When 85-mile-per-hour winds struck during a storm, the base failed and the steeple topped over, breaking off the peak.
Disappointed but not discouraged, a few church members with fiberglass experience were able to fix it. “You can’t tell it was ever damaged,” Boyd says.
It wasn’t the first time that church members jumped in and helped. In fact, this ‘all-hands-on-deck’ mentality was crucial in mitigating pricing volatility; members volunteered their time and skills for tasks like demolition, site preparation, and cleanup.
As Daniels Project Manager Luke DeNeui recalls: “I’ve never seen a congregation so excited to help with as much of the project as they could. They were eager to be involved and were so joyful about working. It was a pleasure to work alongside them.”
Boyd mirrors DeNeui’s sentiments. “Yeah, we did a lot of work ourselves, with our site supervisor there guiding us. We did all the painting; we did all the carpet. Throughout the project, the folks at Daniels would ask us if we wanted to tackle certain things. If we thought it was within the realm of our abilities, we tried to do it.”
This not only reduced costs but also deepened the congregation’s connection to the construction process, transforming the building into a labor of love.
“And I think it started with the churchwide vote to start the project,” Boyd points out. “That was key in getting people to feel like this was our project, not just something we were outsourcing.”
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY
The steeple incident wasn’t the only inclement-weather hurdle: persistent rain delayed foundation work by nearly two months. As Boyd remembers, the project moved really quickly at the beginning — about six weeks ahead of schedule. Accordingly, the team moved up the foundation pour with the aim of erecting steel elements months ahead of time.
Then, the rain started … and didn’t stop for nine weeks.
The recently dug-out area in front of the church, where the new foundation would be poured, filled with water instead — and wouldn’t dry out.
“Daniels pivoted so quickly to other parts of the project that could be worked on during that time,” Boyd recalls. “So, those tasks were laying the foundation for us to catch up afterwards. All I really had to put up with was jokes from church members about the new swimming pool out front.”
Once the foundation was finally poured, excavation for new column foundations began. It wasn’t long before water became a major problem again.
“Everyone was just absolutely sick of all the rain by then,” Boyd says, laughing. “And then, when they cut open the places where the new footings would go, they just immediately filled up with water.”
To his credit, the Daniels site supervisor worked every day to remedy the situation. Eventually, enough water was pumped out so that the soil dried, and concrete was poured for the column foundations.
Certainly, the Daniels and church teams’ collective resilience and creativity was tested; nevertheless, the project timeline was adhered to.
“In the beginning, they gave us a goal for the end date, and we finished almost exactly when they said we would,” Boyd recalls. “The project was pretty much exactly 12 months from beginning to end.”
DESIGNING FOR (THE) COMMUNITY
Today, the Baptist Tabernacle enjoys a dramatic increase in attendance with lots of new visitors. No doubt the look of the church is part of the appeal.
“Our building looks like a church meant for today, not 40 years ago,” Boyd explains. “I think that’s amazing, because we’re an independent church, and most independent churches look like they belong in the 1970s. Ours doesn’t. It’s so encouraging.”
In the church’s bigger, reimagined spaces, members and guests attend all kinds of events and make connections before and after services. They worship in a larger, more modern auditorium. Even community events — like Christmas programs for nearby public schools and Kindergarten and pre-K graduations — are commonplace now.
“We’ll regularly have days where over a thousand folks from our community are in our auditorium,” Boyd says. “Before, I was always, like, Man, I wish this looked better. But now I’m so glad that they’re coming and seeing that this is what it looks like in our church.”
And although this is his first church building project, Boyd says he’s aware that it could have been much, much more challenging without the right guidance. “I once saw a statistic that most pastors leave within three years after a building program,” he explains. “Yeah, we had challenges and obstacles that were outside of our control, but I really do believe that we had the right partner in this project.”
Now, when other pastors ask him about his experience or come to see the building, he tells them it was ‘an adventure, not a nightmare.’
“Working with Daniels showed me that building projects don’t have to be traumatic experiences,” he concludes. “I feel like they set us up for success, and I’m really grateful for that.”
