**photo courtesy of Jeff Uddin
Construction continues on the new sanctuary at the First United Methodist Church on East Broadway in Monmouth. In a project update from early December, masons continued working on the brick façade, carpenters were able to complete framing between the sanctuary and the atrium, and ductwork and installation of the fire sprinkler system also continue. Pastor Jon Sims shares the inspiration that led to the new construction:
“For many years we have been studying what the problems were in our building. The decision came down to do you try to redo an old building to make it match up with the needs for today. When they build the building in the 1880s, they certainly were not thinking about folks who were someday going to use buildings that were in handicap conditions. Then you just have the normal dating of the building. We had a rafter or something that had failed, brick was starting to need attention, obviously bathroom and plumbing issues, electrical, all those things were adding up. We looked at the price of getting all those things fixed and it was going to be about the same, actually a little more, than building a whole new one.”
Throughout construction, the church’s congregation has been worshiping at McGuire and Davies. Pastor Jon can also be heard Sunday mornings on AM 1330 WRAM at 10:30.
**Written by WMOI/WRAM Director of Communications Kelsey Crain**
