New Covenant Fellowship, which has been a source of help, hope, and love in the community of Carthage since moving to the area in 2005, celebrated with a crowd of onlookers as one of the church’s para-ministries, Fellowship Christian Academy, broke ground on a new school building on its campus Tuesday.
Pastor Lee McKinney and his congregation have long sought to meet the community’s needs. Whether After-School Ministry, Summer Camp, Little Promises Preschool, the many outreach events of the church, or now Fellowship Christian Academy (FCA), the campus, located at 1305 Hulsey Road, is rarely quiet.
Cheers of excitement could be heard as 10 individuals, donning white hard hats and holding ACE hardware shovels, dug into the field with confetti flying overhead. Among those holding shovels were representatives from the FCA community and staff and several community leaders, including N.C. House Rep. Neal Jackson, N.C. State Sen. Tom McInnis, and Carthage Mayor Jimmy Chaffinch.
In addition, representatives from the office of U.S. Congressman Richard Hudson, Chairman of the Moore County Board of Commissioners Nick Picerno, Vice Chair Commissioner Kurt Cook, and Commissioner Jim Von Canon all came to celebrate with the families and staff of FCA and to mark the special occasion.
Head of School, Paul Nussbaumer, kicked off the event by showcasing the student government in their presentation of the colors and pledges before a packed house. He continued by thanking many individuals in attendance for their support and reminding the community of the school’s commitment to supporting parents in raising their children by providing a biblically-based education with a desire to produce strong community leaders with a solid academic foundation.
“Here at New Covenant, we say faith is spelled R-I-S-K, and without a risk, there is no faith. I see some of the fruit of God’s faithfulness to our risk-taking happening today. So this is our memorial. Thank you for being a part of it,” McKinney shared as he emphasized the importance of FCA within the community and community involvement in making the school a reality.
FCA began in 2017 with just one kindergarten class and has since grown, bringing Little Promises under its wing to serve approximately 225 students 2 years old through seventh grade, with plans of expanding to eighth grade in the school year ahead. The school building, which will be a project of Gattis Construction and many local contractors, is set to have 16 classrooms and a gymnasium and will meet the needs of the quickly growing school and community. FCA leadership hopes construction will wrap up in December.
Open House events for families interested in the 2024-2025 school year at FCA will be held on Jan. 23 and Jan. 29. Visit www.fellowshipchristianacademy.com or reach out to the school’s admissions director, Elizabeth Harley, at [email protected] to learn more or register for the events.
Feature photo: Left to right: Mayor of Carthage Jimmy Chaffinch, FCA School Board David Landholt, New Covenant Fellowship Pastor Lee McKinney, N.C. Rep. Neal Jackson, N.C. Sen.Tom McInnis, FCA Head of School Paul Nussbaumer, FCA teacher Lorin Brown, Chair of Moore County Board of Commissioners Nick Picerno, FCA Student Council President Reese Brady, FCA Head of Lower School Emily Barnes, and FCA co-founder Alexa Gearhart. Photo by John Wyatt Dowdy.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel contributor Alexa Gearhart.
