Winona Lake Free Methodist Church To Move
November 29, 2024 at 6:56 p.m.
WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Free Methodist Church will celebrate being in a new location Sunday.
Senior Pastor Rick Hurley said the church has bought the church that housed Walnut Creek United Methodist Church, 2033 S. CR 150W, Warsaw, and will hold its first service there Sunday. Last year, Walnut Creek closed its doors.
Hurley said the decision came after discussions from administrators at Grace College due to the college being out of room. Grace offered to purchase the property Winona Lake Free Methodist Church has been housed for decades at 902 College Ave., Winona Lake.
Winona Lake Free United Church has along history in Winona Lake, going back to 1935. The first service held at the church was in 1942.
Hurley said the decision was brought to the congregation about moving and the congregation voted for it in September. The last service at the College Avenue location was Nov. 24. The sale of the College Avenue location closed a couple weeks ago.
“So we’re excited about the move,” Hurley said. He said the response from parishioners so far have been overwhelming.
Hurley said the main reason for the move was for better access.
The church has an older congregation now and there’s a lot of stairs at the College Avenue location, which makes it harder for some people to get around, he said.
The move will also give the church more visibility. There are currently 70 to 80 members of the congregation, so Hurley said he hopes the move allows the church to grow.
The church’s preschool will also be available after the move. Hurley said he didn’t realize how many of the church’s parishioners lived in the area of the new location until recently, so the move could potentially benefit some existing families.
When looking for a new location, Hurley said the location where Walnut Creek was located was the only place Winona Lake Free United Church looked at because it was the only church in the area that was for sale at the time. However, they did fall immediately in love with the location.
Hurley also said the church will be changing its name legally at the beginning of the year to Capstone Free Methodist Church, but will start using that name with its services Sunday.
WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Free Methodist Church will celebrate being in a new location Sunday.
Senior Pastor Rick Hurley said the church has bought the church that housed Walnut Creek United Methodist Church, 2033 S. CR 150W, Warsaw, and will hold its first service there Sunday. Last year, Walnut Creek closed its doors.
Hurley said the decision came after discussions from administrators at Grace College due to the college being out of room. Grace offered to purchase the property Winona Lake Free Methodist Church has been housed for decades at 902 College Ave., Winona Lake.
Winona Lake Free United Church has along history in Winona Lake, going back to 1935. The first service held at the church was in 1942.
Hurley said the decision was brought to the congregation about moving and the congregation voted for it in September. The last service at the College Avenue location was Nov. 24. The sale of the College Avenue location closed a couple weeks ago.
“So we’re excited about the move,” Hurley said. He said the response from parishioners so far have been overwhelming.
Hurley said the main reason for the move was for better access.
The church has an older congregation now and there’s a lot of stairs at the College Avenue location, which makes it harder for some people to get around, he said.
The move will also give the church more visibility. There are currently 70 to 80 members of the congregation, so Hurley said he hopes the move allows the church to grow.
The church’s preschool will also be available after the move. Hurley said he didn’t realize how many of the church’s parishioners lived in the area of the new location until recently, so the move could potentially benefit some existing families.
When looking for a new location, Hurley said the location where Walnut Creek was located was the only place Winona Lake Free United Church looked at because it was the only church in the area that was for sale at the time. However, they did fall immediately in love with the location.
Hurley also said the church will be changing its name legally at the beginning of the year to Capstone Free Methodist Church, but will start using that name with its services Sunday.