Born from a Middle Tennessee food bank, why Love's Way Church plans to move, sell campus

A Lebanon church that started as a chapel service connected to the Joseph’s Storehouse food ministry in Wilson County has grown large enough to require a new campus and is moving from downtown to a new facility just south of Interstate 40.

Love’s Way Church scheduled a groundbreaking on Aug. 22, for its future 26,600-square-foot facility on 21 acres of owned land at 1315 Murfreesboro Road near Stumpy Lane that “will help us do more in our community,” Pastor Johan McGregor said.

The church’s present location at 310 Coles Ferry Pike is for sale because of the pending move. Global Vision Bible Church, led by Pastor Greg Locke, in western Wilson County, has a contract to purchase the Love’s Way Church property.

A 9,300 square foot sanctuary will accommodate more than 650 people, according to J&S Construction Company. Love’s Way now draws around 300 for Sunday services.

New audio and visual systems, multiple teaching spaces for educational programs, indoor and outdoor playground facilities and an onsite coffee and gathering lounge are also part of the plans.

Additional phases are also planned.

Phase two includes a full size gymnasium that would be open to the community with a youth center and coffee area.

And a third phase includes a facility for a Bible school, McGregor said.

Bob and Peggy Evans started Love’s Way Church in 2005 along with Joseph’s Storehouse, which provides monthly groceries to hundreds of families in need. Love’s Way Church's involvement with Joseph’s Storehouse continues with McGregor on the board.

Love's Way initially met with just a few and then became a chapel service within Joseph's Storehouse on Tater Peeler Road before moving to Coles Ferry Pike in 2015, McGregor said.

Bob Evans died in 2018 at age 82.

It’s uncertain when Love's Way's new facility will be complete, though McGregor is hopeful for sometime in 2025.

Where Love’s Way would meet in the interim should Global Vision close on its contract and move to the Coles Ferry Pike location before the new facility is finished wasn’t immediately certain. A lease back to continue using the Coles Ferry property, renting another facility or using a barn structure already on the Murfreesboro Road property have all been discussed.

“We’re still weighing options,” McGregor said.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Born from a Middle Tennessee food bank, why Love's Way Church plans to move, sell campus