---

ATTLEBORO - Living Waters Christian Church is living up to its billing as a church on the move.

The congregation that has occupied the former Grace Baptist Church on North Main Street for more than two years will now relocate to temporary quarters until its new space in North Attleboro is ready for occupancy.

The last worship services at the North Main Street church will be held this Sunday at 9 and 10:45 a.m. Then beginning Sunday, Oct. 22, Living Waters will hold Sunday morning service at 10:30 a.m. in the auditorium of Community School on South Washington Street in North Attleboro until sometime in December. The church will then be moving to its new permanent location at 15 John Dietsch Blvd. in North Attleboro near Triboro Plaza.

This will be the fourth move for the Pentecostal, Bible-based church that branched off from the Living Waters church in Norwood in 2002 to begin meeting at the Cinema Pub in North Attleboro before relocating to space at Fisher College in the same town. Eventually, the growing congregation moved into the former Grace Baptist Church in Attleboro after the Baptist congregation bought the former Bristol Nursing Home property on Oak Hill Avenue and relocated there.

Now Living Waters will move again in what it hopes will be its last relocation for several years. The moves have been sparked by the growth Living Waters has experienced.

Pastor Tim Hatch said the congregation began gathering at the Cinema Pub with only 20 people. Now it numbers about 250, and the new building on John Dietsch Boulevard will accommodate many more.

Living Waters will occupy about a third of the building, Hatch said, and the worship space will seat about 400.

"Hopefully, we will grow into that number," he said.

The church has a five-year lease for a total of about 20,000 square feet that also will include classrooms, a community room, and office space.

A celebration will be held once the new building is occupied, but for now the congregation will say goodbye Sunday to its current facility.

Don Davis, a part-time pastor and a linebacker for the New England Patriots, will speak at both services, and Hatch will be honored for his dedication and commitment.

Once Living Waters moves out, a new congregation will be moving in. Lincoln Christian Fellowship in Lincoln, R.I., has bought the North Main Street church from Grace Baptist, which had retained ownership and had been renting out the building.

Pastor Jeff Bailey of Grace Baptist said the approximately $625,000 realized from the sale of the property will be used for the first phase of renovations at his church's new site on Oakhill Avenue in Attleboro. The church has begun to seek the required permits for the work, he said.

Grace Baptist, which also runs a Christian school for 150 students there, will be spending up to $1 million on renovations that will be done in phases and take several years to complete. "We can take it a step at a time," Bailey said.

GLORIA LaBOUNTY can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at glabounty@thesunchronicle.com.