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One of the goals our church had set in 1996 was to
adopt a building plan that would "provide additional
Christian Education/youth ministry space, a new pick-up,
drop-off site at the Madison street entrance, and additional
parking either on site or northeast of the church property."
A special building campaign committee was formed, with
a goal of providing campaign plans to the congregation
by the fall of 1997 and a pledge drive in the spring
of 1998.
The congregation of First Presbyterian
Church gave the session overwhelming approval to proceed
with the plan in early 1998, and construction began
in 1999. Unlike all prior building projects in the history
of the church, the world was able to see the progress
of this expansion by way of updates and pictures added
to our church website on an ongoing basis from July
1999 until the dedication of the new wing in January
2001.
Our new section was used for the first
time on Saturday, September 30, 2000, for the Presbyterian
Women's Brain and Body Blast, a day-long learning event
with a variety of mini-classes including such topics
as quilting, meditation, gardening, and writing, and
our new parking lot was used for two training sessions
on car care. On Sunday, October 1, 2000, members left
church services for the first time through what would
later be named the Son-Light Rotunda.
Our new building was dedicated on January
21, 2001; and the 8:45 and 11:00 worship services were
held in the new Ministry Center. Members of the PW cookbook
committee offered a sampling of recipes between the
services.
The new mural in the Son-Light Rotunda
was dedicated on Sunday, May 20, 2001. It was developed
by Timothy Botts, well-known local calligraphy artist,
and editor at Tyndale House Publishing.
Our new space made it possible to expand our church
ministry to include more events and activities including, in 2001
alone, musicals such as "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat" and "No Ordinary Night," a Mission Fair
in October, a Christmas Festival, recreational and fellowship
activities for our youth including basketball and other games
and increased Logos, Genesis, and Westminster Fellowship opportunities,
as well as adult education programs and fellowship among all the
generations in our church family.
The graphic of our goal below was added
to our church website in July 1999, and links to the
updates including pictures taken and added to the website
during construction are shown below.
Our Goal
Another important part of our construction was the addition
of our Celebration Garden.
A graphic by the late Christopher Triebes was prepared, and church
members and friends had the opportunity to donate bricks to pave
the patio of the garden, which is located just east of the courtyard
memorial garden and is complete with with flowering shrubs, benches,
and a fountain.
Our new building was dedicated on January 21, 2001;
and the 8:45 and 11:00 worship services were held in
the new ministry center. Members of the PW cookbook
committee offered a sampling of recipes between the
services.
The periodic updates done during the church's construction
project as well as the graphic of the Celebration Garden
and additional information about it are online, no longer
as church goals, but now part of our church history.
Return to
Church History
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