CHAMPLAIN -- Led by the Lord, Living Water Baptist Chapel is no longer under the wing of Bread of Life Church.

"We all believe it's time to step out on our own," said Pastor Patrick Huggins.

The Champlain church, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, recently completed the necessary paperwork to become independent within that structure.

It's been a long way from the one room in the former Apothecary building on Route 11, where a group of eight or 10 of the faithful gathered for Bible study, including Huggins and his wife, Leda.

It was those sessions that moved him to become pastor of the growing church.

There's no requirement that a Baptist pastor attend divinity school, he said.

He drew on 30 years as a Christian, studied at home.

"I listened to a lot of pastors on the radio and on tape.

"I just pray."

MANY HANDS

Prayer led the group to take the enormous step to build its own church.

"If the Lord wanted a church here, he needed to give us a place. This land became available, and we were able to get it."

Huggins is, by trade, a drywall taper and painter, and as plans unfolded for the construction of the Locust Street chapel, that expertise helped the project along.

A group of Baptist volunteers from Alabama undertook the initial work, from concrete foundation to the chapel's framework. After a break of a few weeks, another contingent -- this time from Georgia -- tackled the roof, siding and drywall inside.

"They left it in that state for us to finish," the pastor said.