聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Caring about each other and wanting everyone to have access to worship is something those at the United Church in Wawota are making a reality. Currently the church has many stairs and is not wheelchair accessible, but that is all about to change.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淢uch of the congregation is unable to get into the church easily and because of that they鈥檙e left out or decide not to come,鈥� Jerri Laird, one of the building committee members, explained. 鈥淪o that was the start of it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 She stood outside the church on Sunday, May 24, as she spoke about the exciting result of years of effort coalescing in the sod turning and barbeque held that day following service.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Present to break ground included Laird, Dale Easton, Shawn Murray, Meredith Swanson, and Bob Birnie of the building committee, Harold Laich was unable to attend but is also part of the building committee, as well as Rev. Roy Bortolotto with the congregation pleased to witness the event.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To the amassed crowd on the front lawn, Laird said, 鈥淥n behalf of the building committee I would like to thank everyone for their support鈥� The idea of the building has been a dream and a commitment of many people for a lot of years, some of them are not here with us anymore, but through perseverance and hard work, dedication you鈥檙e seeing this dream become a reality. The building design has changed, but the idea to create a space that is accessible to everyone, where all are welcome, remain.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 She also explained that they have raised over $46,000 in the last year and a half for the project which has been fantastic, but that donations have also been essential to bring them to where they are today. This includes people who continue to come forward to assist in constructing the new house of worship.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e鈥檝e had people offer to buy a new fridge for the building and another offered to do the wiring at cost,鈥� Laird said. 鈥淓ven people that no longer live here have been very generous. People are coming out of the woodwork to help.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The building committee is hoping to break ground next week and are also looking forward to possibly be using the building by September if all goes well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of hard work, but we have a lot of dedicated people who have made this a reality,鈥� Laird stated.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The new building will be established south of the current sanctuary. The existing sanctuary will be turned into the hall and a new place of worship will be built in the current parking lot. The existing hall will be demolished and this will be turned into the new parking lot. This will move the front of the church from the east side of the building to the south side.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Much effort and hard work was put into the building as a community and will soon be able to see the fruits of their labour following the sod turning.
