OZARK, Mo.—Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Highlandville is currently expanding to seat up to 200 people, according to a Headliner News story. For seven and a half years Pastor Rick Washam has served the 100-year-old church. During that time the congregation began to grow out of a building that hasn't been changed since the 1950s.

"(The congregation) is outgrowing the current facility," Washam said. "God's vision for us is to reach out to more people in the community." People don't like to spend there time in a crowded church, Washam said.

"It was beginning to need more room. It will help in every way," Glenn Maples, a 69-year attendee of the church, said. Monthly gatherings for singing and meals continue to attract more people than there are seats at the church.

The church is planning a new facility to be built behind the original structure. "The old church has a lot of history and we didn't want to destroy that," Washam said.

The new addition will be a 40- by 90-foot structure. The basement will be turned into a fellowship hall, providing a kitchen, tables and chairs. The main floor will accommodate 200 people and contain a baptistery.

Three different volunteer groups have stepped in to help with the building, bringing the cost down to less than $200,000 for the church. "(There is) no way we could afford it otherwise," Washam said. The church plans to pay for the new building using tithes and offerings, Washam said.

The first group of volunteers is a missionary building group headed by Mike Maxwell.

"We work primarily on Baptist churches," Maxwell said. They have been volunteering for 18 years. They began on the Highlandville church Saturday, June 5 with a group of about 54 men.

"When we first started out we only had six men working," Maxwell said. The numbers volunteering have grown, but the men have also aged. And since some of the work includes raising a structure and roofing, the group is recruiting younger help. "Now we are trying to get a younger people to get involved. It's getting hard to climb," Maxwell said.

The next crew planned to begin wiring, insulating, and windows work, the week of June 19. The last volunteer group plans to install the sheet rock. They will begin in early July. The builders plan to complete the whole church in late August or early September.