Reading, MA — Building for Now and the Future is the theme for this exciting project of the First Congregational Church of Reading, UCC. The goal is to raise the funds necessary to ensure the future of its building as an active church and as a valuable community resource for the town. This amber stone structure has been a Reading landmark since 1911.
The congregation uses its building to host a wide range of annual community events. These include the tasty Cocoa and Cookies offering at the holiday tree-lighting ceremony, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, the Menorah Lighting Celebration, and the Olde Redding Faire, which is now more than 60 years old. The church has long welcomed a variety of self-help groups (such as Alcoholics Anonymous) to meet in its building.
More recently, the church building has become an informal arts center for the town. Groups that currently meet there regularly are Creative Arts, the Reading Civic Band, the Middlesex Community Band, the Northeast School of Ballet, the Reading Art Association, Sound Play Music for toddlers, and the Reading School of Guitar. The latter hosts a monthly Open Mic night that is open to the public. Yoga and meditation classes and the studios of individual artists can also be found tucked away in the structure. Other groups that frequent the church building include Scout groups, ReadingCares, and the Reading Clergy Association.
The value of the Congregational church structure to Reading is long-lived and profound. Unfortunately, so are the ravages of time on the 100-year-plus edifice. Parishioners have worked hard over the years to maintain the building, employing many gifts of money, volunteer labor, and grants. Still, the building is now in urgent need of repairs to prevent the infiltration of water. Several roofs need attention, and windows and exterior doors need to be repaired or replaced. The electrical system must be upgraded. And the 1959 addition, next to the Town Hall parking lot, displays various exterior deficiencies.
The current capital campaign is designed to create an updated space able to provide comfort and safety for both current and future needs. This includes worship space for members of the First Congregational Church of Reading. But it also means the church will be able to continue to welcome community groups, programs, artists, and more.
Friends and neighbors – you who use the building regularly, and you who have admired it from the outside – are asked to lend a hand. You can learn more about this campaign and how to donate at: churchofreading.org/Capital-Campaign, or by mailing CapitalCampaign@churchofreading.org, Thank you!
