Greetings!
Here’s to the feeling of freshness and uplifting that the spring
brings. Symbolic for starting anew and for growth, we welcome
spring shedding the heaviness that comes with the cold days of
winter. We begin to look forward to planting our gardens and
spending evenings on the back porch enjoying the sunset.
Otterbein UMC is also starting anew this spring. We had the
ground breaking for our new expansion on Sunday, April 17. We’re
so excited that we’ve come this far but this isn’t the first
ground breaking that our church has experienced and we hope it
won’t be the last.
In the year 1832, a church of the United Brethren in Christ was
organized. The congregation soon felt a need for a house of
worship and went on to purchase a tract of land where a building
of one large room and a vestibule was erected. Worship was held
regularly at that location for many years but soon it was time
to expand again.
Another groundbreaking ceremony was held on a Sunday afternoon
in 1956. That year members and friends contributed many hours of
labor, allowing for considerable savings. The new, completed
church building was dedicated on December 1, 1957, beginning a
new tradition of worship and ministry. Over the years, a number
of improvements have been made to this wondrous place of
worship.
With our new expansion on the horizon, we want to invite you to
be a part of it as much as those members who built the first
church were. We’d like to encourage you to take part in a
commemoration by purchasing a brick that will be displayed in
our new vestibule. These bricks are a way for you to honor or
remember a past or present church member. You could also leave
an inspiring faith message to future members. This is a way for
our current congregation to remember the past, celebrate the
present, and leave wisdom for the future. How can you
participate?
The process is easy. Simply fill out this order form and let us
know how many bricks you want to purchase for our Faith Wall and
let us know what you want written on them. Don’t worry if your
message is long; you don’t pay by the letter! You can fit 84
characters on a brick including spaces. The bricks are $100 each
and guaranteed to last a lifetime, assuring that the legacy you
affix, will inspire for years.
Even if you haven’t visited Otterbein in awhile we encourage you
to remember those in your life who were touched by the
ministries that came from this sacred place. To remember the
pleasant memories of fellowship that happened within these
walls. We encourage you to think about those in your life who
would give a brick but are no longer able; those whose lives
were changed by spiritual guidance and congregational support
who would want our future congregation to feel those same
inspirations.
If you have any questions about our commemorative Faith Wall,
please give us a call. We’d love to answer your inquiries or
even just have a chat about the progress of the project and the
ministries that Otterbein is involved in currently and our plans
for the future.
In Christ’s name,
Rachel E. Kern
Fundraising Co-Chair
