Archive for Construction

A campaign of Love – the 2016 – 2017 Stewardship campaign

We’ve been inviting our congregation to bring pictures to Hope to be placed around the sanctuary that show Christ’s Love and Grace in our Church community.   As the webmaster I thought “hey, we have pictures here in the website, maybe I can put some of them up!”   This little slideshow is just a small snapshot of all the wonderful people and events that happen because Hope is here.   Come and join us this Sunday for the annual church celebration of our campaign and bring your own pictures that show the outpouring of Love from our community!

 

A Bit of Methodist History

Enfield Methodist-Episcopal churchIn the late 1930’s the Enfield, MA Methodist- Episcopal Church was dismantled in expectation of the coming of the Quabbin Reservoir.  The building was reconstructed (minus the steeple) in the town of Palmer where it was used as the Grange Hall for many years.  It was a church again for a time in more recent history and very recently the building was sold again.  It has been purchased by the Amherst Railway Society as their new home.

The president of the Society has personally invited us to come and see this historic building.  They will be having an open house on Saturday, August 20th from 10 AM until 2 PM at 1130 South Main St. in Palmer.  There will be tours of the facility and a chance to see their future plans.  You will also be able to see an operating Belt Lines model railroad and partake of some refreshments.

So, whether you are interested in Methodist history or are a railroad buff, this may be an event for you!

*information was taken from amherstrail.org

Kitchen Upgrades

Due to several generous donations, the Trustees and Church Council have elected to move the kitchen up on the capital improvements priority list.  Undesignated Reserve and Memorial Funds will be combined with the individual donations to the Kitchen Fund.  We will be replacing the existing LP gas range and electric convection oven with NEW all-electric units.  LP gas will be removed entirely.  A new exhaust hood with fire suppression will be installed to meet current fire and building code. In addition, a new stainless steel sink with high rise rinse faucet will be installed.  Related upgrades to electrical and plumbing will be accomplished also. Other desired improvements such as a new floor, new ceiling, new countertops and a commercial grade dishwasher will be postponed until more money is available. Thank you to those who have made donations to the kitchen fund.  Improved efficiency and enhanced safety in our kitchen will be appreciated by all who use our facility.

Our New Lift!

We are so pleased to announce that installation and inspection of our new lift is complete and it is fully operational!  We give many thanks to everyone who worked so tirelessly on this project and made it possible for everyone to worship together in the sanctuary on Easter Sunday.  Thank you to Duane Stinchfield who managed the project and was at the church every day in the final weeks overseeing it’s progress.  Thank you to Steve Lanphear who wrote the application for the grant that made the lift possible.  Thank you to Doug Murray

Duane Stinchfield helps Sonya Hawkins onto the new lift.

Duane Stinchfield helps Sonya Hawkins onto the new lift.

for lending his help with the construction, Debbie Dunbar for staying on top of the continual accumulation of dust and debris during construction and to all of the Trustees for their support and assistance.  We also thank Don Lemon, the state inspector who came on short notice to complete the inspection so that we would be operational on Easter Day.

It was wonderful on Easter morning to have Sonya and Addie and Elizabeth in the sanctuary to worship with us.  They are just some of our members who have not been able to be with us or have been watching services from a live feed to the main floor for many weeks.

We look forward to being able to move onto construction of a wheelchair accessible restroom, the next step in becoming a fully handicap accessible church,

Moving ahead with our accessibility projects

We have just posted a page (Projects) as a resource for potential contractors.  On the page there are downloads available for bid submissions and the specifications for all the modifications we will be doing to our building.  We will add new information as it is available so check back often.