And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.”

Genesis 7: 1 (KJV)

SILVERHILL, Alabama — Much like Noah and his family stepped out on faith to build the ark, members of the Christian Faith Assembly Church in Silverhill gathered on Sunday, Jan. 15 to break ground on a new sanctuary.

“We have been calling it the ark,” said Pastor Timothy Willingham, “because that is what this is all about, stepping out on faith in order to do God’s work in the community.”

And much like the descendants of Noah would eventually become the foundation of the modern-day church, the small church at the corner of Silverhill Avenue and Second Street has gone through some trials and tribulations to get where it is today.

Built as the Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church in the late 1940s, the original structure of about 1,000 square feet served residents until a centralized St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish was built in Robertsdale in the 1970s.

After going through a few different incarnations, the building was leased by the Rev. Robert Ledger and a small congregation of members who formed the non-denominational Christian Faith Center in 1983, later changed to Christian Faith Assembly after becoming a full-fledged church. The building was rented until it was purchased and remodeled in 2003.

Willingham and his wife Christine came to the church as youth pastors in 1992, before he was ordained as associate pastor in 2006. He took over as senior pastor of the congregation of about 50 members following Ledger’s death in March of 2015.

“We have gone through a lot in the church’s short history,” he said, “but it is by faith that we are still here and it is by faith that we will grow.”

Last July, Willingham said, the congregation began praying about expanding and building a new structure, which, when complete will be about 6,675 square feet and house the sanctuary and two classrooms. The original historic structure would be used as a youth and fellowship hall, he said.

“We’re planning on using church members to pour the slab and do the prep work ourselves,” Willingham said. The main structure of the church will be a prefabricated metal structure that will be built off site.

“We’re planning a pay as you go program and hope to have everything in place by the time the structure is ready, no later than March,” he said.

To learn more about the church, visit its website at cfasilverhill.org or the Christian Faith Assembly of Silverhill page on Facebook.