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“The Church” by definition is not a building. There is no denying, however, that the facilities we construct serve as a focal point for our activities from worship, learning, fellowship, and recreation. They serve as the backdrop for weddings, musicals, funerals, and life changing decisions. The community identifies it as our “home.” We have met in several buildings through the years from a Jewish Synagogue to a ballet studio and music academy to a Mansion on the Hill. Our building on Walton Way has grown from a simple common room attached to a small kitchen and meeting rooms for Religious Education to also encompass the church office area, sanctuary, playgrounds, and the Memorial garden and fountain. Walton Way extension has undergone expansion, which rerouted one entrance into our property and obliterated the other. As you browse the pictures, notice the change in scenery.
As we celebrate our fiftieth year, our building is literally bursting at the seams. We have grown from a small band of twelve to almost 200 members. Our Religious Exploration program averages 45 children a week. Our Youth Group represents the largest number of high school age youth we’ve ever had. Many members have resorted to parking in the shopping center parking lot on the other side of the fire station on Sunday mornings. This fall, we will begin hosting two services to help alleviate space problems, and we are currently researching other options.
This is truly a great time to be involved in the growth of our community.
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Facilities |
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Among those honored here are Tom Rial, whose place in the church’s history is signified by the memorial garden erected on the church grounds in his honor. Church legend has it that Wallace White and Bob Snyder competed on who could find the largest rock to be used as the fountain. Wallace won. Other memorials include two trees planted in honor of Martin Luther King and James Reeb (a UU minister who was killed by white supremacists during the civil rights movement), the grand piano, and our new hymnals. |