Universalist Unitarian Church to celebrate 60th anniversary

Midlands Universalist Unitarian Church will celebrate its 60th anniversary Saturday with an open house.

By opening the churchs doors to the community, the Rev. Thomas Schmidt said he hopes to be able to dispel some of the misconceptions that may be held about the church as well as show off some of recently completed renovations to the buildings exterior.

Theres a little bit of showing off, Schmidt said. We want to show off our grounds, were very proud of what weve done here, but we also know that there are some misconceptions about us. Were doing at Q&A at 2 p.m. so that people can ask questions. Well have lots of information out if people want to know more about our church. Its just an opportunity for those who are curious about who we are to find out a little bit about us.

Started in 1954 as a Unitarian church, Schmidt said the church began in the homes of just a few couples. After just a few years, the congregation had grown to more than 25 people who brought in a Unitarian minister and began construction on a church building.

They were up and running pretty quick, Schmidt said. They were committed to bringing Unitarianism to Midland and people are still surprised that were here.

Following a fire in the original building on A Street in the late 70s, the church moved to its current location on the corner of Midkiff Road and Neely Avenue. Over the years the building has seen several renovations, most recently to the churchs grounds, Schmidt said.

The impetus was that we wanted our grounds and our church to reflect our values, said Schmidt, adding the landscaping was done with the goal of reducing the churchs water usage.

In addition to making the space more environmentally friendly, the church also put up a concrete wall surrounding the campus as a way of reducing the noise from the busy road.

The wall is really just a way to cut noise, its not that we want to wall people out or anything, Schmidt said. It was just a way that we could use the space and reduce the noise level. The wall, along with the fountain for a little white noise, was added just so that we could actually use this space.

Schmidt will welcome Midlanders inside that space during the open house to dispel misconceptions about the church and the congregations spiritual structure.

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Universalist Unitarian Church to celebrate 60th anniversary