Chalmers Church planningcondo development

By Mark Newman, News Staff

Facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in future renovation and upkeep costs and a shrinking congregation, Chalmers Presbyterian Church is moving forward with a unique plan, possibly the first of its kind for a church in Canada, aimed at keeping the church on Mountain Park Avenue for many years to come.

Were planning on incorporating our church into a housing community, said Reverend Dr. Victoria Eldridge, the minister at Chalmers which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005.

For the past year church officials have been working with a local architectural firm on a plan that would essentially see the church hand over its land on Mountain Park near Cliff Avenue to a developer who would demolish the two church buildings and replace them with a multi-million dollar condominium complex that could rise as high as 12 stories with underground parking.

The church in return would get and own most of the space on the first two floors that would become the new Chalmers Church.

Were hoping this isnt going to cost us any money, said Eldridge, who noted the complex will not be any higher than The Madison; a nearby 11 storey condo building that was completed in 2008.

Eldridge noted the project is still in the preliminary stage and the exact size and scope of the development, including the number of condos, has not been determined.

Unlike the current church buildings, the new church facilities would be completely accessible.

The first floor will include the sanctuary with portable seating for 150 along with a couple of meeting rooms and possibly a coffee shop.

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Hamilton Mountain church eyes high rise

Members of Alberta Baptist Church gather for a Bible study on "Churchology" led by pastor Colby Mouchette in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014. On Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, Larry Corder will announce his retirement during the service and on Sunday Nov. 2, members of Open Door Baptist Church will merge with Alberta Baptist as one congregation.

The pews should be filled at Alberta Baptist Church on the first Sunday in November.

Alberta Baptist and Open Door Baptist churches will officially merge on Nov. 2 after sharing the Open Door facility for almost three years. During that time, the Alberta church was under construction after it was destroyed in the April 27, 2011, tornado.

The Rev. Larry Corder, Alberta Baptist's senior pastor, said that before the tornado Open Door Baptist had planned to sell its property and move to a smaller location. That plan was put on hold while Open Door Baptist served as host for the Alberta Baptist congregation.

The Alberta congregation moved into a new building at the same location as before on University Boulevard in February and invited the Open Door congregation to join them.

The churches formed a task force to discover if the merger would be beneficial to both parties and, on Sept. 28, they decided to merge.

"We merged because we believe we're better together," Corder said. "Either church could exist on (its) own, but we believe we can be more effective together than we are separately."

Corder said, among other benefits, the churches as one create a better staff with pastors from both churches coming together to share pastoral duties.

Sunday will be Corder's last time to preach at Alberta Baptist. He will retire, and Colby Mouchette will step up as senior pastor alongside Keith Pugh, the current pastor at Open Door. The two will alternate preaching at different services.

"Both of these men bring different strengths to the pastoring ministry, but they have the same philosophy of ministry," he said.

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Alberta Baptist and Open Door Baptist churches to merge in November

Students from Goshen College helped Mennonite Disaster Service and College Mennonite Church finish building a house in New Orleans over fall break.

Maggie Weaver

Staff Writer

margaretw8@goshen.edu

Over fall break, a group of Goshen College students journeyed to New Orleans to assist the College Mennonite Church with construction on a house.

The students spent Oct. 13-17 placing flooring in the house, which will also double as a church for the community. The house was being built for a pastors sister and familythe pastor preaches at the church that would share theliving space.

Eleven students attended this trip: Hannah Yoder, a first-year; Brianna Brubaker, a senior; Tasha Friesen, a senior; Leah Amstutz, a junior; Annie Agutu, a first-year; Etienne Davis, a first-year; Yari Coronado, a first-year; Deeksha Pagar, a first-year; Roberto Ortiz, a first-year; Madeline Yoder, a senior; and Barbara Hernandez-Walton, a sophomore.

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Goshen College campus newspaper

United Methodist Church of New Florence members will gather for the centennial celebration of their church at a special worship service 3:30 p.m. Sunday, led by the church's pastor the Rev. Sharon Hamley.

The church is very excited to be celebrating the centennial of our building, said Hamley. The congregation has put a lot of time and energy into planning our centennial year and our final worship celebration is a service that will be filled with much music and joy.

Thomas J. Bickerton, Bishop of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference, and the Rev. James Pond, the UMC District Superintendent for the Indiana District, will be participating in the service.

Additionally, the Chancel Choir, directed by Paula Blankenbicker and accompanied by pianist Michael Brown, and the church's hand bell choir the Faith Ringers will perform.

Local church members formed a congregation in 1849 and built their first church soon after. The church was torn down and replaced by the current church in 1914.

A long-time member of the church, Barbara Keeler, whose aunt was a member of the congregation during the church's construction in 1914, said she remembers family stories about the ladies aid society cleaning the mortar off the bricks of the old church so that they could be used to build the interior wall of the new church.

In 1968 the New Florence Evangelical United Brethren Church and the new Florence Methodist Church jointed to form the United Methodist Church of New Florence

Through the years, our building has not only served our church family, but also served as a gathering place for the town for graduation ceremonies and baccalaureate services, said Barbara Lynne of New Florence, who has served as church secretary since 2003.

Lynne's parents resided here and were very active within the church.

My mother was one of the people who got the bell choir started in 1996, she said.

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New Florence church prepares for centennial celebration

South Shores Church proposes expansion

This rendering shows South Shores Churchs reduced project alternative, which would result in reduced construction and smaller buildings compared to the original proposal.

, COURTESY OF MATLOCK ASSOCIATES INC.

No decisions were made, but close to 200 people came to the Planning Commissions meeting to hear about a proposed expansion of South Shores Church.

The church and its members are pushing to renovate buildings they say are outdated and lack amenities. Vocal residents against the project are worried about a long 10-year construction process, potential land erosion and ruined vistas.

At least three-fourths of the audience at the standing-room-only Dana Point Community Center gym Oct. 13 were church supporters, decked out in lime-green shirts with the words Time to BUILD. Residents from Voices of Monarch Beach, a group against the project, were also present.

The proposed five-phase, 10-year renovation includes demolishing three buildings and building four new ones, along with a partially underground parking structure.

Many of the buildings on the property lack heating, cooling and technology, pastor Rob DeKlotz said at the meeting. The church moved from Laguna Beach to its current site on Crown Valley Parkway in 1962.

The existing preschool, administration/fellowship hall, chapel and parking lot would be demolished, a total of 23,467 square feet of building space. Two new Christian education buildings, a community life center and a preschool/administration building would be constructed, comprising 70,284 square feet of new space. The existing sanctuary building would remain the same.

Construction would not be continuous over the 10 years.

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South Shores Church proposes expansion

NEWTOWN - At first glance, the 40-foot red shipping container in the parking lot of the Lutheran Church of Gods Love appears out of place and unsightly in the pretty community that surrounds it, but the congregation has plans to turn it into something beautiful.

Dubbed the CAN, it will soon be a construction site, bustling with church and community volunteers who will be transforming the recycled container into a functional medical clinic. When the work is completed, the clinic will then be shipped to Africa and installed near Kisumu, Kenya where it will immediately bring sustainable aid to a community that desperately needs it.

The Gods Love CAN team is working with the support of Homes of Living Hope (HoLH) on the framework needed to complete the project. Leveraging HoLHs experience and using its successful container transformations as a model, the CAN team is seeking to connect as many local volunteers and resources as possible to bring its plans to fruition.

Part of our mission is to foster a sense of community and a spirit of service, said team member Jon Hangeland. Connections are vitally important, not only between Newtown and Kisumu, but within our local community as well. We invite all to participate in this project.

The CAN project is already generating excitement among other local churches and organizations, and has received donations from a local hospital, doctor and construction company, with more on the way.

To connect with Kisumu, the church is partnering with Life in Abundance International (LIA), a faith-based organization working throughout Africa and the Caribbean to transform impoverished communities. LIA already has a team on the ground in Kisumu preparing, training and equipping the community to receive and sustain the future clinic. LIA will also work with Gods Love to ensure the facility meets the specific needs of the community it will serve.

During her October 19 visit to Gods Love, just two days after the container arrived, LIAs founding president and CEO Dr. Florence Muindi inspired the congregation to act.

I have seen firsthand the transformation these containers bring to a community in need, she said. The people of Kisumu are already waiting and praying for this clinic. When I see these container doors open here in Newtown, I also see the precious hope and joy that will be on the faces of the people in Kisumu when they open the doors of their new clinic.

And that is a beautiful thing indeed.

For more information, visit http://www.GodsLoveNewtown.org/CAN/

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Gods Love Lutheran in Newtown working to transform the CAN into medical clinic

Photo by Aleena Oliveirs

A few projects are presently being undertaken that will affect university traffic in the coming months. Two of the projects being completed are construction to North Tryon Street and construction taking place near the Toby Creek Greenway. Both projects are in preparation of the much awaited light rail system that will soon be serving UNC Charlotte.

Once the UNC Charlotte Main Station opens, members of the campus community will be able to reach UNC Charlotte Center City in approximately 20 minutes, while avoiding traffic congestion and additional parking costs, said Shelly Theriault Muhl, communications officer with the Department of Facilities Management, in a press release.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is rebuilding two of the bridges on North Tryon Street closest to its intersection with Mallard Creek Church Road. Construction on North Tryon began last Wednesday, Oct. 15. Students and faculty accessing UNC Charlotte on the southbound portion of North Tryon during this time will have noticed that the southbound lane now ends at the intersection with Mallard Creek Church Road.

This portion of North Tryon Street from the intersection will be closed for construction until around May 2015. As the southbound lane is closed, motorists will need to use available detours on Mallard Creek Church Road, West WT Harris Boulevard and I-85. The northbound lane, however, will remain open until the new bridge for the southbound lane is completed.

In light of the road closures, UNC Charlotte commuters are encouraged to adjust their routes and driving schedules accordingly to accommodate for increased traffic.

Patrons who use the 11U bus are notified that the route servicing UNC Charlotte on North Tryon has been adjusted to accommodate construction. The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) can be contacted for more information on these changes.

The construction of new bridges on North Tryon are part of the preparations for the Light Rail system and its arrival upon UNC Charlottes campus. Other construction works are also being undergone to accommodate the light rail. Recently, trees have been removed in front of Miltimore Hall to make way for tracks and the station that will serve UNC Charlotte. This project is being managed by the City of Charlotte Public Transportation Department and is expected to be completed in 2017.

The project to connect the light rail with UNC Charlotte will require a large portion of ground to be elevated to allow for the light rail tracks to be installed. This will require thousands of truckloads of fill material, Muhl said.

Muhl also assured that measures to prevent erosion will be taken to reduce the environmental impact of construction.

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New construction inches Light Rail system closer to Campus

DUKE CENTER The Duke Center United Methodist Church marked its 50th anniversary on Saturday afternoon by unveiling the contents of its cornerstone placed 50 years ago.

Parish members and previous pastors all gathered for the celebration.

For 12 months preceding the celebration, church members had selected 12 different organizations they wanted to support to commemorate their 50 years. They set a goal each month to collect and donate 50 items to the selected organization for that month.

We were so surprised that we not only met our goal each month, but we exceed the amount every month, Sue Bennett said.

The 12 organizations the church selected were the Second Harvest Food Distribution, Genesis House, Duke Center Angel Tree, The Friendship Table, McKean County SPCA, Otto Township Fire Department Auxiliary, Ruth M. Smith Center, Camp Penuel, Bright Alternatives, To-Fill-A-Backpack, Boy Scout Troop 413, and the YWCA Bradford.

Guests and members of the church were welcomed to the celebration with tables of past news articles, photographs, and letters from members.The church also displayed the items saved from the previous church before it burned in 1962. Some of those items include a bible and cross that leans from the intense heat of the fire, but never melted completely. The bell from the old church was placed in the front lawn of the current church along with the cornerstone in 1964.

Pastor Gary Sheesley began the ceremonies by thanking all in attendance for being a part of the special day.After an opening hymn and scripture reading, Sheesley asked those in attendance to share their experiences of the church over the past 50 years.Many members recalled their memories and took turns telling their stories.

Pastor Robert E. Goode, who served as pastor from 1962 to 1968, was in attendance with his wife, Vera. He was the churchs pastor during the fire and rebuilding of the new church.

Ive reached the age where memories are hard to recall sometimes, but our hearts will always be here, because this church has meant so much to us, said Goode.He recalled the times they spent at the Masonic Building, which is where the church held services until the new church was built. Goode also talked about the planning and preparation of building and opening the new church, and also about the day the cornerstone was placed.

Also in attendance was pastor Seth McClymonds, who served in that role from 1999-2004.McClymonds shared his fondest memories of his time at the church, and jokingly talked about the time he almost burned the church down after an advent candle was placed directly under the large cross in front of the church.This story produced many chuckles throughout the congregation.

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A look back: Duke Center United Methodist Church unveils its cornerstone

Anna Williams/Fairfax NZ

RAISING MONEY: Jo Spooner, left, and Rob Cameron hold a stained-glass window, one of the items from Seddons St Andrews Presbyterian Church auctioned off on Saturday.

A wooden toilet seat was among items up for grabs from a demolished Seddon church at the weekend.

An auction was held on Saturday in Seddon to sell items and memorabilia that belonged to St Andrew's Presbyterian Church.

The church first opened in 1965 and was demolished on July 27 after suffering earthquake damage last year.

More than 80 items were up for grabs, including furniture, an electric organ, light shades, the wooden toilet seat, rimu door frames, and other parts of the building.

About 25 people turned up to bid on the goods, with more than 50 items sold.

Awatere Christian Joint Venture management committee chairman Rob Cameron said the biggest surprise sale was the light shades, two of which went for $100.

The stained glass windows also fetched a good price, however the church had put some of the windows aside to include in a new church they are hoping to build.

The auction was another step forward for the church, Cameron said. "This earthquake demolition has been going on a fair while now," he said.

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Quake-hit Seddon church holds sale

A Greek Orthodox church crushed on 9/11 is finally being resurrected.

Hundreds of people flocked to the future site of the St. Nicholas National Shrine for a ground-blessing ceremony Saturday to celebrate a house of worship that will one day overlook the 9/11 Museum and Memorial.

A $38 million, domed alabaster sanctuary will replace its modest 19th-century predecessor a tiny four-story building toppled by the collapse of the South Tower. It was the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks.

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Byzantine-style structure is scheduled for completion in 2016.

Church officials told The Post they have raised $7.2 million toward construction $1.2 million of that from an insurance policy.

I dont think [continuing fund-raising] is daunting, said the Rev. Evagoras Constamides, a church spokesman. Today is an excellent example that our community is ready ... to respond to this effort.

Officials said they have collected donations from around the world, including $260,000 from the Greek government, as well as Greek Orthodox parishes throughout the US.

After 13 years of tremendous non-stopping, non-sleeping efforts ... we start the process for the resurrection of the church, said Archbishop Demetrios, the leader of the Greek Orthodox church in the US.

The congregation was founded in 1916 by Greek immigrants, who held services at a tavern-turned-church at 155 Cedar St.

When the church was destroyed on 9/11, years of talks with the Port Authority over a land swap began. A deal was finally reached that would give the PA rights to the Cedar Street property and allow the church to rebuild at 130 Liberty St.

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National Shrine to replace church destroyed on 9/11