Raising Kingdom’s Hall Jehovah’s Witness Church Goes Up In Avery County In Four Days Inside on Day Two Sunday, beginning of day 5, and in time for service; done! By Miles Tager Groundbreaking Wednesday morning did offer the foreshadowing of things to come; the small site between Newland and Elk Park positively swarmed with workers in hard hats. By Thursday afternoon, the building, a new Kingdom Hall for the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was framed in. Sunday, the workers were giving thanks in their new church. The church finished, from foundation to fittings, in just a tad more than four full days. Taking a small break from the frantic pace Thursday, local member and project co-coordinator Donnie Hughes said that many of the workers, all members of the Witnesses from throughout the Southeast, were experienced in this way of raising the Hall. “We actually build about one a month this way all over the country,” Hughes said; the Marion congregation built theirs within a four-day span although Avery County hall represents the first in the High Country. The all-volunteer, but highly trained and experienced, crew gives “one weekend a month” to work on such projects, Hughes said. “There are a lot of skilled people here, this is not a haphazard operation.” The church will be “all stick-built, not prefab,” Hughes said, the 4,600 square feet generally following “a standard design.” The Avery Hall is the culmination of a ten-year plan, with the official decision to rebuild on the site of the past church coming “back in April,” Hughes said. After only eighteen or so hours of work, the structure has taken shape on the site by 19E outside Newland, with interior framing already underway. More than 700 workers and support staff will have played a part, with over half that number likely to be working at one time. Sunday at noon, the rockwork, carpet, lighting and interior welcomed the congregation to worship in their new Hall. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ first church in Avery County was built in Newland in 1974, Hughes said, moving to the current location three years later. The new church will serve a growing congregation, “we used to welcome about 25-30 members but now we consistently have 130 or so,” Hughes said; with the new church, “we are expecting more,” Hughes said. The Witnesses claim six million members worldwide. This weekend the congregation will present an Open House at the hall Friday through Sunday from 1:00-7:00 p.m.