Church Roof Replacement Uplifts Community

By Cass Jacoby. 

Jacksonville, Florida church gifted a new roof, allowing for the church to carry out its mission to provide services to the community.  

“It's a Christmas miracle. It's the blessings of God,” the pastor and the owner of Lighthouse International Church Dr. Stanley McAllister Jr. tells First Coast News as he watches a new roof being put on his church.  

The church is right down the street from where Stanley grew up. "My mama went to Edward Waters College on a softball scholarship, and she struggled to raise us," Stanley tells First Coast News. "So, it’s important to me to not just for there to be a church in this community, but to be a church of this community.” 

Stanley bought the 90-year-old church at the corner of Brady and Hart Streets in Durkeeville last year, only to find the church is in disrepair. "For a year, we've not been able to have service, and we've kind of just been looking for someone to help us," he says. "I almost at one point was going to sell it.” 

Stanley found that someone to help when he met Brandon Davis, owner of Premiere Roofing of Jacksonville through a mutual friend. Brandon offered the $80,000 roof replacement the church needed for free. 

"He explained some of the services that he wanted to provide to the community through the church, so we listened," Brandon said. "I discussed it with my team and it was pretty much a no brainer from there. This is just a way for us to give back to the community." 

Lighthouse International Church offers a number of services for the community through the program Pipeline to Possibilities which offers classes and certificate programs to help kickstart careers. 

"I cried because my heart is for the Durkeeville community in general, and the Jacksonville area specifically,” Stanley says. “This is going to help us continue our mission to be able to give the people of Durkeeville and the surrounding areas the necessary tools to succeed." 

The church is scheduled to have its grand opening at Easter this year, with Brandon and the Premiere Roofing of Jacksonville crew in attendance.  

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About Cass  

Cass works as a reporter/writer for RoofersCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When she isn’t writing about roofs, she is writing about movies for her master's degree and dancing with her plants.   

Photo credit: First Coast News