Making their mark; Marked Church finds new permanent home in downtown Fayetteville

By Faith Hatton, posted Nov 4, 2024 on BizFayetteville.com

Fayetteville based Marked Church has announced the recent acquisition of a three-story 37,388 square-foot property located at 508 Person St. Photo by: GFBJ

A new community focused space will soon be joining downtown Fayetteville.
Fayetteville based Marked Church has announced the recent acquisition of a three-story 37,388 square-foot property located at 508 Person St.

Built in 1966, the property features three floors and eight bathrooms. It stands on a lot that spans 2.12 acres and was previously owned by Beasley Media Group.
Marked leadership closed on the sale of the building on Friday, Oct. 4. They’re now preparing to begin major renovations to the space and to create a space suitable for their congregation and the greater community.

Previous hosts included spaces like the Metropolitan Room in downtown Fayetteville. Photo pulled from the Marked Church Facebook page.

Started during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marked Church is celebrating its fourth year in the community. Marked has been hosting gatherings in various spots throughout the community while leadership searched for a permanent space. Previous hosts included spaces like The Village Baptists Church’s North Reilly Campus, the Metropolitan Room in downtown Fayetteville and currently the New Century International Middle School in Fayetteville.
Now, after the anniversary of the Church’s foundation on Sept. 22, they have announced they have found a permanent home that will be open to all.

“We started praying about a place that would host not just gatherings, but [provide an] opportunity to serve the city. That's our biggest thing, we don't just want a Sunday gathering facility,” shared Lead Pastor Kris Dillard. “We prayed that God would give us a space downtown for one reason, to not just serve the homeless, but to end homelessness.”

The building is located less than a mile away from the site of the future Homeless Support Center to be built at 344 Hawley Lane, beside the FTCC Education Center, a fact that while helpful to future outreach, was not a factor for Marked when looking for a new home.

“I think God just winked at us. The game plan was always to come back downtown to, one, love on the homeless and two, to help them move back into society, get their families restored and things like that, so the fact that we ended [up] back downtown was only God because the growth didn't match. Everybody was saying, ‘There's not going to be enough parking, it’s not going to be enough this or that,’ so this property made sense,” shared Dillard.

First floor plans pulled from an **announcement video** released by Marked Church.

Plans are in the works to renovate each floor of the building to put it to use for the Church and the community.
The first floor will feature a coffee and juice bar, offices and administrative spaces, a space for the kid’s church and a 700-seat sanctuary that will be used for gatherings on Sundays and more.

“We have a growing kids population. It's going to be shared with a daycare that we're partnering with in the area, and then we're partnering with a business focused on serving the autistic community in the area as well. During the week, it'll be a shared space. I feel like that first floor will be a floor that never sleeps,” shared Dillard. “During the week, we're going to open it up to create kind of a flex space for the kids to kind of get in, run around, get some energy out, stay active. The Autistic community that we're working with will primarily use that space during the week, just because I think the Autistic community needs a space that is catered towards them.”

Second floor plans pulled from an **announcement video** released by Marked Church.

The second floor will feature a full commercial kitchen, co-working office space and offices available for rent to the public along with administrative offices for Marked staff. The second floor will also include an additional play zone for kids and a gym.

Marked will also be providing a space for area creatives on their third floor.

Third floor plans pulled from an **announcement video** released by Marked Church.

“We have plans on the third floor to make that a complete production studio suite, not just for the Church, but for all creatives in the city. Anybody who wants to take their creative gifts, whether that's animation, whether that's audio, video production, that suite will be there,” shared Dillard.

All funding for the new facility is coming from donations through Marked Church’s “I See It” campaign. Launched in the summer of 2023, Phase I of the campaign had a goal of $1 million as a down payment towards the new church building. The campaign launched before a building was found with the outlines of what type of facility would best serve the Church’s needs, all of which are met by the building at 508 Person St.

“We’re about $600,000 away from our goal. The ‘I See It’ campaign was a campaign for our Church to just have faith in God. When we looked at the Bible, we saw God invite people into faith steps,” shared Dillard. “See it in the spirit before you hold it in the natural, that's kind of the mantra that we've been doing. So, to see the Church for the last year and a half, have faith, sow generously into it, and then now to be able to say, ‘Hey, what you've been sowing into what you couldn't see, now you're going to see.’”

A rendering of the fully renovated space pulled from an **announcement video** released by Marked Church.

As fundraising continues, renovations are expected to begin in the coming months. Marked Church has partnered with the Fayetteville Assemblies of God who are handling the bulk of the renovations.

“We’re looking at a four-to-six-month process. It's phase one, so our goal would be to be in the new facility by Resurrection Sunday,” shared Dillard. “Any organizations that have a heart for the homeless and the Autistic community, and that are open to work with us, just give us a call, email us, we’d love to connect.”

Learn more about Marked Church on their website here, learn more about the ‘I See It” campaign here and follow along with their developments on their social media here.

Marked Church currently hosts its Sunday morning gatherings at New Century International Middle School in Fayetteville. Photo pulled from the Marked Church Facebook page.

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