THE LITTLE CHURCH THAT GREW

Our church building has been expanded several times over the years.  Here’s the story of our 1998 addition.  As our church grew in the 1990’s, unused space was virtually impossible to find.  Offices for our 2 new associate pastors, Rick Haverly and Cyndie Holden, as well as classrooms for our bulging Church School, were just not available.  Several individuals stepped forward to see what could be done.  Among them: Ralph Mann, Sam Hendrickson, Mark Pepe, Rachel Seller and others.

Several plans, ranging from very traditional to ultra-modern, were proposed by different architects.  A local architect, Joe Eddy, mapped out ideas using computer graphics, and all agreed on a plan that accentuated the timeless beauty of our church.  Several obstacles stood in the way of progressing toward construction.  First, the adjacent property (which the church has since acquired) could not be purchased at the time, which limited our building options.  Undaunted, a group of spatially-talented individuals determined that an exit from Memorial Hall could provide handicapped access since this exit would be at street level.  This allowed our church to consider building plans for upward expansion to a second story.  A surveyor in our church, Russ Andres, confirmed these ideas and made the two-story addition viable.  Next, we needed money for construction.  A committee was chosen to work with a professional fundraiser to generate necessary funds.  Several meetings reviewing the plan and cost were held in homes.  Earnest discussions ensued, and people searched their hearts and pledged to raise the dollars needed.  Miraculously, we received pledges for about $250,000 more than what we requested.  These additional dollars made possible the purchase of furniture and additional principal payments, and also helped offset the costs of all the “surprises” we discovered as the work began.

One surprise was an immense steel, reinforcing beam installed for support during the chapel addition in the 1950’s.  The location of this beam required a slight change in our building plans.  Ralph Mann, who had been part of the 50’s addition project, recalled that this beam had been installed by the builders of that addition to accommodate additional stories in future years.

 No review of the expansion of our church would be complete without mention of the second-hand building that was attached to the back of our original church structure.  At one time, our lovely antique parlor was part of the Sally Lewis Academy, located at the top of Academy Street.  When our church purchased it, it was moved down the hill and attached to the back of our building.  This represented the first of several additions that make up our wonderful church building today!