First Friends Church - Salem, Ohio

After arriving in Salem Ohio for our Thanksgiving holiday with family, we received the Visiting Friend Newsletter to find that our first Sunday there was to be the dedication of the new addition to our home church ! When asked by Pastor John if we came home for the dedication, I had to tell him that it was an added bonus! We have lived through two previously failed attempts to get this addition to our facility and are pleased that this third effort has been successful! We can only say that things take place in God's time table, not ours! As our new Sports/Wellness Director said in a later newsletter, "God has placed a mighty tool for ministry in our hands, to 'reach the people where they are with the love and hope of Jesus Christ'." Now it is our responsibility to follow through as new outreach ideas are taking shape. We look forward to our return in the summer after our wanderings, to see the new growth. I would like to share some photos of the multi purpose building that was added. It begins with a huge main entrance which has been needed for a very long time. This entrance to the sanctuary still remains the same, but this reception area now is extended with the new added space. We all love to visit with our friends and meet new people and this change will enable us to do that. These photos show the flow from the old into the new with the new being to the left in this photo . It also gives us a secure nursery area in this day and age when we must worry about who is picking up the children. They will also have four larger rooms and two new restrooms to accomodate little people (note how low to the floor!). There will be two more rooms on this ground level which can house two ABF classes of older people who will no longer have to struggle with the stairs to go to the lower level. These rooms can also be opened to one large room for other purposes. There will be two new larger restrooms and a unisex room to accomodate either parent who might want to take care of a child's needs. The kitchen is filled with much more up to date equipment to help with the food preparation for serving many functions in addition to the kitchen already on the lower floor. But of course, the most popular space will probably be the gymnasium which many can't wait to put to use! The dedication held in this gym was well attended as Pastor John sank his famous basketball through the hoop! Way to go John! The services were great that morning and we didn't want to miss any when we found out the schedule. It began with a prayerful singing and worship time in the santuary with a coffee reception time following in the Chapel and then the ABF time for regular classes. This was topped off by the usual praise/sermon service. It was a very inspirational time! The dedication in the gym followed all of this. A couple weeks later after all of this excitement, we attended the church's Quaker Bells and Praise Team for their Christmas concert and were blessed with their music and fun! They had also invited the Salem High School's Chimes Ensemble under the direction of Jackie Samu, to participate. All of this was followed with a beautiful cookie and punch reception . What an evening! Sorry, but I did not have a handle on the camera's flash choices for this concert! So the photos are not many or very good. Just let your imagination take over! We are now back in SC visiting our new friends Sandy, Mike, and Mary today and will go on to southern GA for a few weeks. If we don't see some of you in the south, we will see you when we get back north to visit in the summer. God Bless you all!