Almost two years to the day from the loss of its former church building, Plymouth United Church of Christ (UCC) will dedicate its new building at 2010 Moholt Dr.
An afternoon worship service on Sunday, Sept. 23 will dedicate the new structure to the ministries of Jesus and as a house of worship. The church’s former building was destroyed on Sept. 22, 2016 by a fire that resulted from a lightning strike.
The 4 p.m. service on Sept. 23 will be one of word, song and prayer, according to a press release from the church. Rev. Dr. Rob MacDougall will be the guest preacher and the service will include special music by church musicians, including the Plymouth brass trio. It will also feature a guest choir, The Schola Cantorum of Eau Claire.
The service will be followed by a reception featuring cake and beverages. Rev. David Huber, the church’s pastor, said that the general community is invited to share the celebration with Plymouth church members.
“In the spirit of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue that is an important part of the United Church of Christ’s tradition, Plymouth invites all members of the community of all faith traditions and no faith traditions to join them for the dedication and celebration,” he wrote in an email.
The new church building is on the site of the one that was destroyed. After a year of planning and design, the church broke ground for the new structure on Oct. 29, 2017 and construction got underway the next day.
MacDougall is the Associate Conference Minister of the Wisconsin Conference of the UCC. His efforts focus heavily on assistance to churches in the Northwest Association of the conference. He also is working on developing strategies to utilize the experience of retired UCC clergy.
After the fire, Plymouth was housed at Grace Lutheran Church, 202 W. Grand Ave. The move back to Moholt Drive was completed last month, and the first worship service in the new building took place on Aug. 23.
Plymouth UCC was founded as Second Congregational Church in 1885. It joined more than 6,000 other congregations in the United States in 1957 in forming a new denomination, the United Church of Christ.
At that time, it changed its name to Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, to highlight the historical ties to the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock. The church sold its building on Bellinger Street in 1993 and moved into a new structure on Moholt Drive on Easter Sunday, 1995.