“From Ashes to Beauty”

For more than 850 days, the Southside Baptist Church congregation continued worshiping together after losing their  building constructed in the 1950s to an arson fire on June 10, 2023.
They first moved services over to the local Ozarks Family YMCA before gathering for a majority of their Sundays inside the Cactus Inn & Suites Conference Room.
The long wait for a new building came to an end when around 160 congregants and family members packed the sanctuary at 806 S. Lake St. for its first ever service on Sunday, Oct. 12.
This was a large crowd considering the attendance was around 40-45 people worshiping weekly at the hotel.
“And we didn’t feel like we were cramped,” said Southside Baptist Church Pastor Josh Miller. “We were all just so excited to be able to get back in our home. It’s what it felt like...Everybody feels so blessed that God made the way for us to rebuild.”
The new facility, built under the direction of Peterson Construction, the general contractor, is 10,800 sq. ft., slightly larger than their former building.
There is a porte cochère, a covering where drivers can drop off passengers.
“That has been one of those things I have always wanted,” Pastor Miller noted. “We have so many people with walkers and wheel chairs.”
Upon walking in the front door and into the new foyer, attendees can go down a left hallway for children and youth classes.
A nursery and a toddler room share a convenient bathroom. There are large male and female bathroom locations in that hall as well as in the right side hallway, which also features classrooms, the pastor’s office and more.
Both hallways are connected by the sanctuary and a large fellowship hall featuring a large kitchen.
The outside parking lot is paved and features several painted parking spots.
“There are still more things to be done, but we are able to now get in here,” Miller noted.
This past Sunday, there were plans to also hold a couple of baptisms in their new baptistery.
Though Pastor Miller and the congregation are enjoying the blessing of their new building, they are also thankful for the hospitality the Cactus Inn & Suites staff provided over the past couple of years.
Over time, hotel staff would start setting up chairs and more for the church the day before their Sunday services
“They helped us in every way they could,” Pastor Miller noted. “...They were a blessing for sure.”
Pastor Miller is thankful though they will no longer need to haul so many items to the hotel for services.
Currently, Southside Baptist Church has Sunday School at 10 a.m. and worship at 11 a.m. on Sundays.
Pastor Miller said the church may hold Wednesday evening services in the future.