Seacoast Church in Manning celebrated a significant milestone on June 30th as they broke ground for their new campus. The event, attended by members of the church community and local residents, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the church’s mission to serve and uplift the area.
Aaron Gross, the Manning Campus Pastor who joined Seacoast in January 2022, shared his excitement about the renovation project. “We will start next week with demolition and then be off and running. The inside will be renovated extensively, making it look like a brand-new building,” Gross said. The building, previously leased to Roses, has been owned by Seacoast since 2019 and will undergo significant changes to better serve the community.
The groundbreaking event was not just about the physical transformation of the building but also about the spiritual and communal growth it represents. “My heart was to get our people together to really pray over the process, the project, the months ahead, the people working on it, and the future ministries,” Gross explained. The service included prayers, baptisms, and a celebration with food, games, and a dunk tank for the children.
Seacoast Church, which currently holds services in the auditorium at Central Carolina Technical College in Manning, sees this new campus as a tool for ministry rather than just a facility. “It’s easy for a building to become an identity source for a community, but we want it to be seen as a tool to do ministry, to do good, to help out a community, to be a light,” Gross emphasized.
The renovation is expected to take nine to ten months, with hopes of opening the doors by Easter 2025. The new campus will allow the church to expand its programs, including after-school activities for teenagers, mentoring, tutoring, and adult education. “We pick up kids from school for our after-school program, and the schools love it. It’s not just about schoolwork; it’s a safe environment for them to hang out,” Gross said.
Gross has ambitious plans for the new building, intending to make it a hub for various community services. “I would love to see mentoring programs and tutoring programs, not just for the teenagers but also for adults, like how to interview and write a resume,” he stated.
He envisions the church building becoming a community center that remains active throughout the week. “Maybe 50-60 years ago, churches were considered to be like the community center of the area, and it’s no longer that way,” Gross said. “I don’t want to have a brand-new building and for it to sit empty six days of the week and use it on Sunday morning. It needs to be open and available for the community, and I want it to be a resource for our community.”
The new campus will also support Seacoast Church’s commitment to sports and recreational activities. “We have basketball here, but I imagine we’ll probably install stuff like that into the parking lot over there,” Gross mentioned. On the pastor’s wish list for their current offices on Church St, Gross envisions transforming the building into a Dream Center, similar to their North Charleston campus, providing medical and other essential services to the community.
Gross, who has 20 years of experience in vocational ministry, is passionate about building community and bridging gaps between generations and cultures. He and his wife, Jennifer, along with their two teenage sons, Otto and Owen, moved to Manning from Detroit. Gross enjoys hiking, with aspirations to trek the entire Appalachian Trail, as well as hunting, fishing, and cheering for the University of Michigan football and basketball teams.
In addition to the groundbreaking, Seacoast Church is gearing up for their annual Unity in the Community Block Party on Saturday, July 13th, from 2:00 p.m. until 6 p.m. The event, held at Wilson and Dingle’s lot at 202 Dickson St., will feature a backpack giveaway, a free cookout, games, and waterslides. Last year, the church gave away 150 backpacks, and this year they aim to distribute 250. The block party is a testament to Seacoast’s commitment to community engagement and support.
For more information about Seacoast Church and their upcoming events, visit their website at seacoast.org.
