Grace Bible Church is doubling in size, building a branch location off Harvey Mitchell Parkway, officials said.

The 47-year-old church closed on the 37,000-square-foot former A&M Church of Christ campus earlier this month and is in the process of remodeling the site, Grace Bible facilities coordinator Rhonda Simms said.

Church officials declined to disclose the purchase price. The Brazos County Appraisal District values the land and property at $1.9 million.

"Every service, we have standing-room only," Simms said. "We felt the need to not turn people away."

The church currently draws about 750 people to two services it holds Sundays and Saturday nights, she said.

Grace Bible is replacing carpet, paint and ceiling tiles at the new site, which will mirror offerings of the original church at 700 Anderson St., Simms said. The church will hold its first service at the Harvey Mitchell location, which Grace Bible calls the Southwood Campus, Aug. 31.

A&M Church of Christ moved out of the site Grace Bible acquired in May of 2004, after buying 28 acres near the intersection of Texas 6 and Southwest Parkway.

"Our membership was over 1,200, and we needed more classroom space and land," said Bob Walker, an elder with the 60-year-old A&M Church of Christ. "And we couldn't expand, because of constraints on parking."

Walker said the church will work well for Grace Bible, because it was built with a large fellowship area and dividers, giving church workers the option of either separating it into four large classrooms or using the space as one grand hall.

The renovated Southwood Campus will offer youth programs, a nursery and children's nursery school, Simms said.

"It will operate like a whole other church, with the same doctrine and same style of worship and will be overseen by the same board of elders," she said, adding that Grace Bible has nine members on its board of elders. Seven are acting members.

Simms said the expansion is a milestone for the church, whose membership is a 50-50 split between college students and families.

"We're not sticklers for membership, as this is such a revolving-door community. And college students don't necessarily transfer their membership," Simms said.

Grace Bible Church got its start in 1961 as Bryan Baptist Temple, a state-chartered, fundamental independent Baptist church, officials with the church said. It moved from its original location, a Bryan Air Base barracks, to its College Station spot in the early 1970s.

Blake Jennings, a longtime pastor at Grace Bible, will be a teaching pastor at the church's new campus, Simms said. The church currently is trying to hire an administrative pastor and other staff.

The church, which Simms said is not actively soliciting donations from its congregation, has received $500,000 from members for the new campus. The donations represent about 14 percent of the church's $3.5 million budget that includes earnest money, start-up costs and renovation, a down payment for the building and building balance and operations, according to the church's Web site.

• Holli L. Estridge's e-mail address is holli.estridge@theeagle.com.

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