Matthew and Merinda Thrower presented council Thursday with a detailed plan of what they’d like to do downtown after they find a site for the nondenominational contemporary church called Refuge Point. A planning group from the church has been meeting in local homes, but a public service Dec. 20 at New Horizon Community Theater was attended by more than 80 residents after it was advertised mostly through the social networking site Facebook.
“This is our community and we want to contribute,” said Merinda Thrower, who has a CPA license.
Her husband Matthew, pastor of the church, has a degree in music from LaGrange College. A plan put together by the couple includes a “launch budget” and fundraising plan of more than $750,000.
“For a long time we wanted to move away, but God changed our hearts and we want to move back,” she said.
“We have the same risk of failure as any business that comes to downtown, but our success would contribute a great deal to West Point.”
The Throwers are looking at a couple of downtown buildings, including the current Southern Shadows antiques mall and the former Goodwill building, both on Third Avenue. If the Goodwill building was chosen as the site, the church likely would apply for grants to help with renovations.
Churches are allowed anywhere in West Point, provided council signs off. Council members were supportive of the couple’s plans Thursday but said they’d like the Throwers to present the idea to the Downtown Development Authority and get that board’s opinion before any final decision is made.
“This gives us a lot of diversity and the coffee shop is a good form of nightlife,” Councilwoman Judy Wil-kinson said.
The proposed coffee shop would be used as a revenue source to operate the church.
Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.
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