SOUTH POINT — It’s definitely a work in progress. The two-room wide brick bungalow on the campus of Tri-State Baptist Temple sports a roughed up floor and a ceiling that could use a lot of TLC.

But in a couple of weeks, the men and women of the church expect to give the house a new lease on life as it becomes the official headquarters for their teen program.

They call themselves “The Lively Stones,” a youth group specifically for teens in 6th to 12th grades. They take their name from 1 Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 5, where God’s people are likened to stones placed along the path of life offering solid ground for the traveler.

“They want to be a solid foundation for other classmates and their peers,” Pastor Tim Jenkins explained.

Now the church wants to give that same sense of solidity to the young people by providing them with a place they can call their own. This is especially important as the youth group has shown substantially growth in the past few months numbering now 25 who attend the weekly Wednesday night program.

“The teens have always been bounced around,” Jenkins said. “They had to fit in where they could. Now they have a place for them to meet. That’s important for the kids in the community. The teens aren’t going to be looked at as an inconvenience.”

For the past three weeks the men of the church have taken down the interior walls of the house, painted and have plans to put in a new drop ceiling.

The women plan to do the decorating picking a 60s motif that will go with the antique pop machine that boasts Coke for 35 cents a bottle.

Ironically, the cottage, originally a home of the Gibson family, Ashland, Ky., businessmen, was the headquarters of Tri-State Bible College. That was in the 1960s. As the college grew, it moved its school across U.S. 52 into the village of South Point. After that move, the cottage was turned into the church office, then a storage area.

Now, it’s looked at as a place of growth.

The purpose of the Lively Stones is to give young people what Jenkins calls a Bible view of the world.

“It’s activities and entertainment that are positive in their life,” the pastor said. “It’s an alternative to the things the world offers.”

“As a pastor it has been my charge to encourage our people to see the needs around us and help them to take the tools and the talents to carry out what the Lord wants them to do.”