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CALLAO AND KIRKSVILLE, MO -- Two northeast Missouri churches are beginning a new chapter in their congregations.

The Callao Christian Church celebrated this Sunday morning as they broke ground for their new family life center.

The new building will house classrooms, gymnasium, kitchen and meeting rooms to hold activities for church members.

Church officials say that they did this event to dedicate it to the Lord and are excited to use this facility to help out the people of the community.

"We are really excited about it. We have a lot of adults and youth we can't serve properly. They are our future. So if we can get more people involved that will move the church much further," said Callao Christian Church Deacon Jim Wills.

The new family life center is scheduled to be completed by next fall.

Meanwhile in Kirksville the Hamilton Baptist Church held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new addition to their multi-purpose building.

The new building will house pre-school classrooms and rooms to hold church social activities and events.

After a collapse of the original building in 1996, it has been a slow recovery for the church to rebuild. But thanks to the un-ending support of members, today was another sign that they are moving forward.

"We've really had strong support for this. They've all been really strong. We've had several who have supported us financially. It's been a positive experience for the church," said Pastor Charles Jackson.

The new building is scheduled to be completed by this upcoming spring.