Plenty of space for prayer
BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 10/06/2008

GARDINER -- Space isn't a problem for members at the new Faith Christian Church.

The congregation is renovating a new location at 280 Brunswick Ave. in Gardiner that increases the space from 3,000 to 14,000 square feet.

It moved to the new location in August after acquiring the former Robinson's Health Facility across the street from Laura E. Richards School.

As part of the move, pastor Glenn Metzler said the congregation also changed its name, from Kennebec Mennonite Church to Faith Christian Church.

"We felt the move was a good time to change our name," Metzler said recently. "A lot of people don't know about Mennonites or have a positive idea of who we are in actuality. We are no longer a part of the Mennonite Church. It was a direction the denomination was going in that some of us felt uncomfortable with."

He said the church broke away from the Mennonite denomination and formed a new organization, along with other churches in New England, called the Harvest Fellowship of Churches.

Harvest Fellowship of Churches is an "evangelical anabaptist" organization "conceived in the heart of God and birthed out of the heart of leaders primarily located in the New England region," according to the Fellowship Web site.

Discussions began more than 10 years ago to consider a regional fellowship of churches, the site said. The current organization was founded in 2001-02.

Metzler said the church is trying to increase its membership. Currently there are about 60 active members, he said.

Currently, the congregation is meeting in the former dining room of the health facility, but eventually that will become the fellowship hall, he said.

The 52-foot-by-75-foot auditorium, where services will be held, is still under renovation.

Many of the former patient rooms are being made into classrooms. There's also a nursery, office space, a large conference area and a commercial kitchen.

"We haven't had much time getting acquainted with the Gardiner community because we've been spending a lot of time on the building," Metzler said. "But I have attended the Gardiner Ministers' Group."

A house that the congregation owned behind the old church at 187 Sewall St. in Augusta has been sold. But the former church building is still on the market.

The downturn in the housing market hasn't helped with the sale of the property. But Metzler said a bigger problem is city zoning: It limits what can be done with the building.

Businesses are not allowed in the area of the church, but it could be used for another church or a day-care center, or converted into apartments, he said.

Rufus Percy, of Whitefield, who is overseeing the work in the new church, said, "It's nice to see a single-use building get converted into something really nice. The building wasn't in good enough shape to turn back into a nursing home. It's nice for the church and the community as well because it's not just sitting there vacant."

Metzler said it's awesome to have so much space.

The congregation was looking to build, but couldn't have afforded anything this big, he said.

"It's a God thing," he said.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com

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