NATCHEZ — It only took the clearing of a few trees on South Shields Lane for the Rev. Robert Cade to realize the new facility for Word of Faith Ambassadors Worship Center was there all along.

“The church was here even before we started construction,” said Cade, who is pastor of the church.

“People are more visible than they are spiritual. They have to see something before they get excited about something, so getting the trees cut and starting construction allowed people to start seeing the church, but we knew it was always here.”

Cade and his wife, Betty, who is senior pastor at the church, have been with the church for 35 years.

The Cades moved to Natchez from Ferriday and began pastoring at the Natchez facility, which still sits next to the new facility on South Shields Lane.

“We had outgrown the smaller facility and just needed something to accommodate the community,” Betty said. “Everyone felt cramped in the other facility, so it’s nice to be here, where everyone has plenty of room.”

The previous facility, which Word of Faith will continue to use for its youth services, has a maximum capacity of 180 people.

Construction on the new facility, which can hold 290 people, began in December 2012, and the church hosted a dedication celebration in October.

Betty remembers the service fondly as a sort of new beginning for the church.

“The energy was high that day,” Betty said, looking around the inside of the new facility. “The church body was proud they had something they could invite their family members to and really call their own.”

The high energy levels have continued since the first service in the church, Betty said, as church members begin to feel at home in the new facility.

“It’s given all of us a new energy because we always had that feeling that we needed to expand, and God allowed it to happen,” Betty said.

“The last leadership told us, ‘If you build it, they will come’ and it’s been true. “The people have been flowing in and out since we got here.”

Apart from more parking spaces and seating for church members, the new facility also gives the pastors, praise team and band more room to spread out.

“It gives an added dimension of what we didn’t have in the beginning — more space for our community,” Robert said. “Our goal is to drive the community and because of the limited space, we couldn’t do that.”

Behind the altar where Robert gives the majority of his service, a large crown on the back wall with the text, “King of Kings” inscribed below symbolizes the mission of the church.

“Most people would put the cross there, but that’s not what we get, we get a crown,” Robert said. “When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, you become a king, but when you become a king you don’t start out functioning as a king should.

“You need to be taught and trained to be what God wants you to be, and that’s what happens here.”

Service is given at the church at 11 a.m. Sundays with Sunday school starting at 9:30 a.m.