Anyone who's ever taken on a home remodeling project knows how quickly it can go over-budget and past deadline.

So Peek's Chapel Baptist Church truly has a reason to celebrate this Sunday, Feb. 19, as it marks the completion of its sanctuary renovation - done in just three weeks without debt.

Member and webmaster Chris Williams said it happened fast. "One Sunday when the church had a meeting to plan for the renovations, the contractor was here the following Sunday ready to start the project."

The last Sunday service held before construction started was Nov. 27, 2011 - a few days after Thanksgiving - and the grand reentry service was just in time for Christmas day services.

Services were held at Memorial Middle School while the sanctuary was gutted and rebuilt.

Deacon Kennedy Smith said, "The members wanted to be back in the church before Christmas. The Deacons were faced with a very tight time schedule. With holiday seasons at its peak, and three weeks to gut and redo the church, it seemed like the odds were against us. But thank God for giving us men who took the time off their jobs and from their families to stay at the church everyday with the general contractor to project manage this for the church."

Deacons Calvin Flanigan and Charles Williams headed up the planning committee for the sanctuary remodel and they then awarded the contract to Otis Dardy, owner of Dardy Construction Company.

Williams said being "‘on time' was really key because we were pushing four weeks. But when you have a great contractor who really knows what he's doing, they do phenomenal work."

Guest Pastor Aldren Sadler was born into the church in 1950. "This is my home church," he said. Sadler is the pastor of the Church of New Beginnings in Conyers but will be serving as a guest pastor for the celebration service. "I was actually here when they built the original building. I was on the trustee board at the time when they laid the foundation for this building."

Sadler said there are two things of significance for him. "First, how it was completed on time and secondly, it was completed in budget and the Lord blessed them to do so without going into debt whereas other churches have had to close down. This church was financially able to remodel in these economic conditions. That was a blessing."

Williams added, "The church has been blessed tremendously; we have great, phenomenal members that believe in giving and paying tithes and offerings. So over the years we have had the building fund and we did some building fund campaigning that would encourage the giving for the growth of the church."

Peek's Chapel Baptist was established in 1868 and the present Pastor is the Rev. J. H. Battle. He has served as pastor of Peeks Chapel for 31 years.

The public is invited to the Sanctuary Remodel Celebration this Sunday at 3 p.m., at the church, 3185 Old Salem Road. The regular Sunday worship service begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by a fellowship dinner, and then the 3 p.m. Celebration Service with Guest Pastor Aldren Sadler.

For more information, visit www.peekschapel.org.