Keith Moore does not like

boredom.

That's good, since he's got

plenty to do right now. In his 14th year as pastor of

Braelinn Baptist Church in Peachtree City, he finds

himself and his congregation in the midst of a host of

programs and plans, not the least of which is the recent

purchase of 53 acres on the other side of town for the

church's eventual relocation.

The current campus at the

corner of Crosstown Drive and Robinson Road has room to

grow, but not a lot. Since moving there in August of

1994, the church has grown from an average Sunday morning

attendance of about 400 to 950, with two morning services

needed to accommodate the crowd.

So the church started

looking into the possibility of relocation more three

years ago. After a vote of the congregation in the summer

of 1998 made it official, church leaders began searching

for land.

"We looked at the

growth of our church and the area, our other ministries

we want to be involved in, and all of the needs we want

to address in the community," Moore said last week.

"I told the church we could grow some more and

prosper here, but we can see the end. So our people made

the decision to take care of the generations that come

after us."

The Braelinn property is

for sale, as it has been for about 18 months. The church

marketed it alone at first, but now a commercial broker

has been retained.

The new land the

congregation eventually settled on was not on the market

when the search began. But when word got out that the

family that owned it was interested in selling, one thing

led to another until Braelinn signed on the dotted line

for "$1 million and some change," as Moore put

it.

Actually, two tracts make

up the proposed site, which fronts Ga. Highway 74 on the

west side. About eight acres was owned by Pathway

Communities, including a small portion that is in the

city limits of Peachtree City.

Pathway did not want the

land, which included an old cemetery. The church jumped

at the chance to own it, however, because of its

historical value.

The vast majority of

Braelinn's new property is within the town limits of

Tyrone. There is access to Dogwood Trail on the north,

Moore said, but the church's land does not extend to the

corner of Dogwood and Hwy. 74.

Church leaders have met

informally with Tyrone officials, but no official

applications have yet been made. "We wanted to let

them know what we wanted to do, and ask them in general

if it was doable," Moore said.

There is no set timetable

for relocation, which Moore said depends mainly on

resources. The current property does not have to be sold

before the church moves, he added, and a team of church

leaders is considering possibilities for the property in

case it does not sell and becomes a secondary campus for

the congregation.

"I'd love to see us up

there [on the new land] two years from now, at

Easter," he said. "But that's a personal dream

more than anything."

If that is realized, it

would be a long way from when the infant church met in

Huddleston Elementary School during its first two years

of existence, followed by more than five years at

McIntosh High School.

Now Moore stands each week

in front of people who have come from places like Newnan,

Fairburn and Jonesboro. The new location will have a big

advantage as far as accessibility, he says. "We

wanted a location where we could have room for 3,000 on

Sunday and still be a good neighbor."

If current plans hold up,

the new property will be bordered on the south by a new

office building at the corner of Hwy. 74 and Peachtree

Parkway, just north of the Kedron Village shopping

center.

The master plan is in

development now, and very little if anything has been set

in stone for the new site. A likely approach would be the

construction of an initial phase with a multipurpose

building, hopefully with about twice the capacity of the

current one, to be followed later by a large, more

traditional sanctuary, classroom buildings and

recreational areas.

But all of that could be a

long way off. "I could pastor here another 20 years

and not see a lot of this," Moore noted as he ran

his finger across a conceptual drawing entailing all of

these ideas.

Moore makes no secret of

the fact that the incredible growth of Fayette and

surrounding counties played a major part in the church's

plans.

"We went to the

Atlanta Regional Commission and said, `Tell us about the

south side [of Atlanta],'" he said. "They told

us, `The whole world's coming to you.'"

The church also needed to

make a preemptive sort of move while affordable land was

still available, he added, since it is becoming more

scarce in Peachtree City and surrounding areas all of the

time.

The church has been

contacted by a number of prospective tenants for its

current land in the past year, such as other churches

meeting in schools like Braelinn once did. Other

prospects have included private schools, nonprofit

organizations and even Peachtree City itself. The

Recreation Department has taken a good look at the

property as its own facilities and services become more

and more in demand.

Moving from the southern

end of the city to the northern tip is not as drastic as

one might expect. "It's just five miles," said

Moore. "We wanted a good location without moving far

enough to change the complexion of our

congregation."

Once the move does take

shape, the church will have more space not only on Sunday

but for ongoing concerns like the Braelinn Community

Services, an outreach that meets a number of physical and

financial needs for local residents and something Moore

thinks is as important as anything the church is doing in

the community.

The pastor acknowledges the

scope of the church's commitment, but he also notes the

faith of his congregation that has made it possible, and

says they all look forward to what the next few years

hold. "We're pretty pumped about it."