But hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses from Johnston County and across North Carolina are taking off work to help build a new kingdom hall -- or church -- on Cornwallis Road.

"I think it's just about setting priorities," said Mike Piddington, who leads work crews on kingdom hall projects around the state.

Piddington says he takes only as much paid contracting work as he needs to support his family. "We just plug along, pay the bills and live simple lives," he said.

In Cleveland, organizers said, about 800 people took part in two weeks of intensive building that wrapped up earlier this month. With tasks ranging from painting to duct work going on at the same time, it was likely the busiest construction site around.

Jim Bass of Selma, one of the organizers, noted that commercial contractors, because they don't want anyone to get in their way, often refuse to be on site at the same time as other work crews. The kingdom hall project in Cleveland had no such conflict.

"Those Christian qualities come out, where you show kindness and respect to each other," Bass said. "Nobody's upset; everybody's happy."

Jehovah's Witnesses come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and walks of life, and building a kingdom hall gives them a chance to get acquainted. In addition to local English and Spanish congregations, a Chinese congregation and a sign-language group from Raleigh joined in on the Cleveland construction.

The building went up entirely with volunteer labor -- a key tenet of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith.

"Everything we do is voluntary," said Keith Schueler, coordinator of the local congregation's Body of Elders.

No one in the faith's worldwide organization is paid, Schueler noted. "It's the same thing here," he said.

Using volunteer labor saves a substantial amount of time and money. Piddington said it would take nine to 12 months with paid contractors to accomplish what the volunteer laborers did in two weeks.

So much work in so little time requires a lot of coordination. A committee is responsible for organizing all kingdom hall construction from Charlotte to Manteo, and it maintains a list of skilled laborers who can handle each aspect of the work.

Volunteers with no construction experience work under the supervision of professionals, and the training they get sometimes leads to jobs in construction.

With so many workers, safety is a major concern, and volunteers get a safety briefing each morning. Each building site also has a first-aid trailer in case something goes wrong.

Volunteers who can't do construction work can help with the cooking, as the hungry volunteers get three meals a day during the build.

"They don't have to leave the site and stop work," Schueler said. "Some of the guys say they end up eating too much."

Out-of-town volunteers are offered lodging in the homes of local congregation members, though many opt for hotels.

Schueler said three congregations will move to the new kingdom hall from the overcrowded Clayton building. The Cleveland and West Clayton English congregations and the Barber Mill Spanish congregation should start meeting in the new building in late October or early November.