A local church is gearing up to celebrate recent additions to its church, construction that church leaders feel will allow for expansion and better welcome members and guests.

First Free Will Baptist Church of Washington will host a dedication of its newly renovated sanctuary and new 1,600-square-foot welcome center tomorrow at 3 p.m., following its regular Sunday services. The church added a little over 2,000 square feet to its existing sanctuary through the renovations in hopes of making more room for a growing congregation, said Senior Pastor Todd Parrish. The church broke ground on the project at the beginning of October.

Parrish said the expansion came from a vision by church leaders, including himself and Darren Walker, associate/youth pastor. In past years, church attendance would fluctuate, increasing to the capacity the facility would allow and then decreasing after peaking at full capacity, Walker said.

“Over the years, we’ve gone through ups and downs,” Walker said. “Attendance would grow to a certain point that we didn’t have the space to support it. Then attendance would go down. (The renovations) curb that a little bit by adding more space so we have room to grow. Now we have more space to be able to do it.”

The church has considered relocation of the church in years past, but due to a lack of feasibility and funding, the church backed off and felt that God was calling them to remain in Washington — another reason for the expansion versus relocation, Parrish said. With the help of Michael Dunn, a local architect, the church discovered it could add space in its existing facility and grounds. The church, which focuses heavily on missions, sends teams all over the world, and the church feels the missions outreach is only as strong as its home base, something Parrish believes firmly, he said.

“We have this idea that the light that shines farthest, shines brightest at home,” Parrish said. “The farther that light can shine, the more effective we can be at home. It’s just a means to an end. It’s part of a vision. We believe God created everything to grow.”

Through the renovations, the sanctuary’s set-up was reversed — the pulpit traded places with the seating — and now has room to seat over 100 more members and guests, Parrish said. The sanctuary now has all new carpet, pews and upholstery, flat screen TVs for displaying song lyrics and Bible verses, baptismal, pulpit and a loft for sound engineering, all of which is a nod to the churches traditional roots, yet contemporary additions, a mixture Parrish believes is portrayed in the facility’s layout, he said.

Parrish said Brian Ingalls, a member and son of one of the church’s founding members, constructed a cross from Juniper timbers from the church’s floor, something Parrish and others view as a the focal point of the sanctuary — a tribute to the church’s roots.

“What’s neat about this place is how the project turned out,” Parrish said. “It really speaks of our personality as a church. We want to grow and (the building) shows growth. We’re welcoming to new families, new faces. We’re very traditional, but at the same time, we’re also contemporary with the flat screens and sound equipment. Even the building kind of speaks of that — that’s really the kind of thing we want people to catch. If you think about a family, there are no two people alike. Families do what they need to do to keep the family whole and happy. That’s how you learn to live together and love each other.”

Parrish and Walker both feel the expansion is not only well received among members, but an element of excitement has spread, as well. However, the church remains open to welcoming guests and adding youth to its growing congregation through providing a place for all who come.

First FWB Church is located at 901 N Bonner St. in Washington. The church hosts Sunday school at 9:15 a.m. and morning worship at 10:30 a.m.