Westminster Church broke ground for its very first building - our sanctuary - in 1948.  Two years later, the new congregation added an "activities building" which we called our Fellowship Hall.  While that building was most likely designed to be somewhat "temporary," it served us well for over 55 years.  During this period various plans were made, but set aside, until 2003 when it became very obvious we needed to improve our "activities building" space if we were to adequately serve our congregation and the wider community.

Being Presbyterian, we "decently and in order" took care to conduct a professional feasibility study and to design a new Fellowship Hall within the context of a complete campus master plan.  We completed two capital campaigns to raise construction money.  We prayed. 

There were many hurdles including dealing with the city permitting process, neighborhood concerns, church needs, water quality requirements, zoning variances, and the budget.  Finally, in 2007, we said goodbye to our old Fellowship Hall and ... waited.  The hurdles morphed and changed, but we persevered and the aged, faithful building's demolition finally occurred during the summer of 2008.

Less than a year after the walls came tumbling down, on May 31, 2009, we dedicated and began using our new Fellowship Hall.  The construction process was inspiring and, to those watching from the outside, almost miraculous as we watched the progress from week-to-week.  Our new Fellowship Hall is almost half again as big as the old space, and boasts a vaulted ceiling with windows to fill the large room with natural light.  We now have a commercial-grade kitchen and an acoustically-designed choir rehearsal room.  We've gained restrooms with shower facilities and a laundry.  Plus, adequate storage for all the necessary "stuff" such as tables, chairs, robes, etc.

Throughout the process, many of us shared ideas, time, talent, and treasure.  Our grateful "thanks" is extended not only to our Building Committee, whose members included Chip Somerville, Margie Johnson, David Thompson, Amy Ehrlich, Chuck Fields, and Michael Dulaney, but also to our finance and stewardship officers, our pastors, our staff, and many other members who devoted countless hours of their time and talents.