Bethlehem Baptist Church rebuilding with the help of volunteers

BREMEN, Ky. (WFIE) - Bethlehem Baptist tore down its historic sanctuary in early 2022.

Now half a year later, the new sanctuary is looking less like a plot of foundation and more like a place they can call home. It’s something that Pastor TJ Milam says is a long time coming.

“We’ve been in the school gym I think since January, and so we’re looking forward to being able to be here and to have a more permanent setup, but we’re still a little ways away from that yet,” says Milam.

While there’s still some work to be done on the new hall, Milam knows it’s taken a lot of work from everybody just to get where they are now, especially a group of volunteers that came from across the country on their own dime.

“We’ve got a group in here called Constructors for Christ, and they’re helping us put up our fellowship hall,” says Milam, “they’ve been here for five weeks and this is their last day. They’re heading out now. They got a massive amount of work done, and just really put us forward in the project.”

Constructors for Christ have been in Bremen for five weeks, cycling out different people for as long as they want to stay.

It’s usually a few days to a week, according to volunteers.

The Construction Manager for Constructors for Christ, Ray Dilbeck, is one of the only people who stayed at the project from start to finish.

He remembers day one in Bremen when it was nothing but concrete and plumbing.

“To see it to this stage has been, it’s been a tremendous blessing,” says Dilbeck, “I mean, we’ve accomplished a lot, you know?”

The group picks one big project a year to work on.

This year is the 47th annual year of Constructors for Christ, and Dilbeck says he’s done it this long not just because of the work they can do both with their faith and with their hands, but because of the relationships he’s able to build all over the country.

“It’s probably one of the best groups of people you’ll ever meet in your life, you know? We only see each other one time a year. We talk to each other on the phone throughout the year, it’s just like family,” says Dilbeck.

Church officials say they’re hoping to have things wrapped up, and their congregation back inside, just in time for the Holidays coming in November and December.

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