Quick Facts
A HISTORY OF HILLSBORO
- Hillsboro Church of Christ was established in 1927. The church built and moved to its current 51,000 square foot facility at the corner of Hillsboro and Tyne in 1973. A 3,588 square foot parsonage (Tyne House), 2,313 square foot bus garage and 2,690 square foot log cabin are also a part of the 16.34-acre property currently.
- The current minister is James Waugh, who has been with the Hillsboro congregation for more than six years. Former notable ministers include Batsell Barrett Baxter, Mack Wayne Craig and Marlin Connelly.
- In the 1970s, the church had more than 1,000 members. Although the membership of more than 700 is smaller in number today, the church is growing on a yearly basis in number and participation.
THE VISION OF FAITH BUILDING PROJECT
- Hillsboro created the Vision of Faith project to encourage this growth and growth in resources and ministries. Part of this vision includes construction of a 48,669 square foot multi-purpose facility and renovations to current facilities.
- The complete structure – new and current combined – will be less than 100,000 square feet. Although this is a large facility with three levels, its footprint on the property is only 40,393 square feet of land usage on over 16 acres. Approximately one-third of the new space will be below grade and will not be visible from the streets.
- Binkley Garcia Architecture, LLC is the architect of the project, which has been designed to remain consistent with the character and style of the current facility. The new addition will also allow for approximately 100 more trees in the landscape than zoning requires.
- The new facility will provide additional classroom space, office space, fellowship rooms and workspace for the church’s various ministry programs. The facility will also include a non-regulation gymnasium that will not be large enough to accommodate spectator sports, but can serve as a fellowship and play area for families. The new amphitheater is a small outdoor area about the size of a patio that will be used for educational opportunities and informal gatherings.
- Hillsboro is building for its future. Based on current trends in church growth nationwide and the evolving needs of the current fellowship, the church has decided that this addition will allow them to offer more family and personal resources and a place where meaningful outreach and ministry can take place.
COMPLIANCE WITH FOREST HILLS
- The church has been on the corner of Tyne and Hillsboro since 1973 – long before many of the homes in Forest Hills were built. The church was pro-active in purchasing a large enough tract of land that expansion would someday be possible within the requirements of the city of Forest Hills. Just as any property owner would expect to be able to use his or her property in accordance with the law, so does Hillsboro church.
- The Tyne House – a parsonage on the property– will be razed if necessary in order to meet the allowable footprint standards established by the city of Forest Hills. A log house will also be razed. Both buildings, along with a bus garage, are considered “accessory buildings,” on the property, but the Planning Commission interpreted the building code so that the square footage of these buildings must be included in the maximum 0.06 site footprint allowance. Although the church would like to keep the Tyne House in particular, they will be willing to remove it in order to get the plan approved for the new addition.
- The church has kept the City of Forest Hills “in the loop” throughout the planning stages of this project. The church has been committed to compliance throughout the project planning stage in order to ensure all building requirements will be met and even exceeded so there will be no question regarding their intentions for the property. They have redrawn the original plan to have less square footage and they have completely changed the parking lot configuration based on the requests of the Planning Commission.
ADDRESSING NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS
- Some neighbors are concerned that the addition will take away from the rural, low-density, wooded character of the City of Forest Hills. In fact, this is a smaller footprint on the overall property total than some homes occupy, so density is not an issue. Also, the plan includes planting trees and strategically leaving trees in place so the church will actually have 100 more trees on the property than the city requires. The church is committed to maintaining the character of the area and the plan does that.
- Opening a school is NOT part of the Hillsboro Vision of Faith. Hillsboro Church of Christ has no plans to ever pursue building a school based on the fact that the Forest Hills/Green Hills area is saturated with private schools and that zoning would not allow for a new school in the area.
- Ragan Smith Associates has conducted a comprehensive traffic study that shows the addition will bear no significant impact on current traffic patterns. Church attendance was greater more than 35 years ago, so even if church attendance doubles in size due to this addition, the traffic would not be an unreasonable increase based on the traffic study and the fact this traffic was absorbed in years past with no issues.
- Lighting for the addition has been redesigned to limit output to the existing property. The lighting scheme is necessary for safety and security issues. Although there will be an increase in the number of lights, there will be zero output beyond the church property. It will not be a significant increase and is designed to be aesthetically consistent with the structure style – lighting that suits a church, not a shopping center. In addition, several trees will be planted as part of this project, which will help to absorb even more light.
- Other than the temporary noise associated with construction, neighbors should not anticipate any additional sound. If the church’s purpose or mission was changing, this might be a valid concern, but a church by nature is a place of worship. Although some fellowship events are more social in nature, these events will not be any noisier than they have been for the past 30 plus years just because the building facility is bigger. If anything, a larger building should absorb more of the noise associated with church activities. In addition, several trees will be planted as part of this project, which will help to absorb even more noise. Additionally, several times a year the church has to rent large tents for large gatherings. The amount of noise produced by large outdoor gatherings far exceeds gatherings that take place indoors. With the exception of occasional summer/outdoor oriented events, the new addition will allow the church to hold the majority of its gatherings without renting tents throughout the year, thus decreasing the overall neighborhood noise level.
BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY
- The addition project will only enhance the ability of Hillsboro Church of Christ to provide relevant and needed community ministries, such as Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, Hillsboro @ Work career counseling and networking, holiday events (Trunk or Treat, Easter egg hunt) and participation with ministries such as Room in the Inn, Meals on Wheels, and Inner City children’s classes – to name a few.
- The church regularly offers the main facility and surrounding grounds for community use. Approximately three to four times a month, the church is used for community meetings, weddings, parking for area events, seminars and social events, to name a few. The new facility and upgrades will allow the church to be consistently available to the community for these needs.
- Hillsboro Church of Christ has been prayerfully and thoughtfully planning for the execution of this project vision for more than three years. Much time and careful research has been given to this project so that it can be successful and beneficial to the church and surrounding communities.
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Worship Times
Sunday Morning
Bible Class - 9:00 am
Worship - 10:00 am
Sunday Nights @ Hillsboro
Wednesday Night
Classes - 6:45 pm
Contact Us
Phone
615-665-0014
Email
Address
5800 Hillsboro Rd
Nashville, TN 37215
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