When Dr. Casey Fisher became pastor of Grove Street M.B. Church in 1998, the active congregation numbered about 25. In 10 years, membership has outgrown the one-story church built on Pierce Street in 1965. By Fisher’s estimates, the church, now called Greater Grove Street M.B., has 550 to 600 active members.

Nearly 200 people gathered Wednesday evening to cut the ribbon on yet another building, a $1.4 million facility on Alcorn Drive.

“Words cannot express how I feel right now,” said Fisher. “But our work is not complete. Faith has brought us here, and faith must carry us forward.”

Prior to partaking in the first service at the new location, the congregation took a walking tour through the church’s history. The group gathered at Grove and Buck streets, where the first services were held 100 years ago. The site is now an overgrown lot.

Church members leave the Pierce Street building, built in 1965, Wednesday.Church members gather Wednesday at the new church on Alcorn Drive.Due to a widening of Grove Street, the original church was torn down in 1962. For a while, members shared a building with Ebenezer M.B., also on Grove. In 1965, a new church was built on Pierce Street.

Inside the Pierce location Wednesday night, the growth of the church was clear. There was standing room only, and a few people opted to gather outside and look through the windows.

A number of people took the opportunity to thank Fisher for helping them strengthen their faith and expand the church’s following. Among them was Shirley Peaches.

“I was baptized in the original church 50 years ago,” said Peaches, who returned to Vicksburg – and Grove Street M.B. – in 1978 after spending years in Los Angeles. “I’ve seen the growth firsthand. It’s been wonderful – a blessing.”

Fisher maintains he can’t take credit for the growth. When asked how he accounts for it, he quickly responds, “the word of God.”

Members young and old have responded to the all-inclusive philosophy, he said.

“We’ve taken away every excuse people have had for not coming to church,” said Fisher.

As the group made its way into the new church Wednesday evening, the same people who squeezed into pews at the church on Pierce Street fanned out comfortably among the roughly 400 chairs in the new church.

Timeline1908 – Grove Street M.B. is founded, with services held in the home of the Cosby family at Grove and Buck streets.1965 – Church built at 707 Pierce St.2008 – Greater Grove Street M.B. built at 2715 Alcorn Drive.If you goSunday services at the Greater Grove Street M.B. are at 8:30 a.m. A Sunday evening service is at 6 each fifth week.The ceiling rises to about 25 feet, as opposed to 10 feet in the old church. A large balcony sits high above the floor seating in the rear of the new church, and seats another 150.

Adjacent to the church is another large building, which will be completed in the next month and used for social gatherings, said Fisher. Planning and fundraising for the project began about five years ago. There were many setbacks, said Fisher, including the rising building costs that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005. For the past year and a half, the church has scheduled two Sunday sermons due to lack of space.

“It’s been very stressful. We’ve lost a few members because they were impatient, but those who have stayed on have come together in a way that no other situation would have brought together,” Fisher said. “I’ve had a problem any preacher would love to have.”