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Congregation looks forward to its own 'lily pad'
By Arline A. Fleming/Special to the Independent
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The thanks being expressed around holiday tables on Thursday will be twofold for members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of South County.
Not only will they be rejoicing over the Peace Dale building soon to become their permanent gathering place, but also for being singled out as one of four Breakthrough Congregations for 2009 from across the nation.
“We were nominated in September by our Unitarian Universalist district executive who has watched us grow and thrive even while meeting in a bingo hall,” noted the Rev. Betty Kornitzer, minister of the local group.
The congregation still meets in a bingo hall, American Legion Post 39 on Kingstown Road, and will continue to do so at least through the new year, but work is in breathless progress in Unit B of the Lily Pads Complex at 23 North Road, the space the church purchased in August.
A former Roman Catholic retreat house and nursery school, the building, said Kornitzer, had many of the elements they had been searching for in a potential home.
“There was already a sanctuary in place, and a school, a real school. It was like it was waiting for us.”
The church purchased the central portion of the sprawling complex, a former Hazard home, for $750,000 from Robert O’Neill of South Kingstown in August and expects to put at least $300,000 into renovating the space, Kornitzer said. The funds have been generated through a “Joyful Giving” campaign within the congregation. Church members will complete some of the renovations, and all efforts are being made to make it a “green” church while bringing it up to code.
In a pamphlet distributed to church members explaining the capital campaign, it was noted “the reuse of a building is consistent with our ecological values and historic preservation; sharing the site will result in a purchase and rehabilitation cost that is significantly less than that of purchasing raw land and building a new structure.”
The congregation had rented administrative office space on High Street, but Kornitzer said the move to rented space at Lily Pads has already been made while their own offices there are being finished.
“It worked out perfectly,” Kornitzer said.
“We have been exceptionally pleased with the work of the contractor and are hoping to have our first service in our new church home in January,” she added. Tim Hurley of Charlestown is the contractor.
According to Alice Buckley, a volunteer project coordinator, Unit B is 7,584 square feet on three levels. Classrooms take up the lower level, and a sanctuary, office space and kitchen area make up the main level with office space on the upper level. The back of the structure looks out upon Saugatucket Pond, and a fenced area is already in place for the projected church school.
“Down here, we are doing a lot of the work,” said Buckley. Church members were there undertaking renovation plans for the classrooms as she spoke. “We have a lot of kids,” she said, and having classroom space was one of the major motivators behind moving to a new building.
“It means the world to us for our children to have an attractive, useful space,” said Kornitzer. “Our biggest obstacle was that we had no education space.” At the American Legion Post, bingo tables are cleared away each week to allow for Sunday services. And though the blocky building lacks a spiritual presence, the group made it their own each week and before long, more people came to worship.
Meanwhile, one floor up, the sanctuary area was being handled by the contractor’s work force on a recent day.
Clearly, the high-ceiling hall was meant as worship space with its leaded glass-lined windows and elevated sanctuary with alcoves for religious statuary.
The core structure, which dates to circa 1870, is a 2½-story house with multiple rooflines and brick chimneys. It was the home of John Newbold Hazard, the youngest son of Rowland Gibson Hazard. It remained in the Hazard family until 1946, when it was turned over to an order of nuns who eventually renovated it and added the central addition. Buckley has the 1957 plans. It was sold again in 1976 and used as professional office space.
Branching out from the former altar area is a small kitchen “for warming food for pot-lucks,” said Buckley, who was also looking behind the construction debris to envision choir space and the minister’s podium. Someday they hope to install an elevator, she said.
The congregation has opted to fill the sanctuary with moveable chairs so that the space also can be used “for dances and dinners,” she said.
“This space will give us the opportunity to reach out to the public for public events and lectures,” said church member Elizabeth Donovan.
It had been almost two decades of relocating for this congregation, which started out as many churches do – in private homes – moving on to libraries, an Episcopal church and then, the Legion hall.
Kornitzer said the decision to purchase Lily Pads was not a swift one. Small “cottage meetings” were held with the 120-plus church members to keep them informed about the process and give them an opportunity to be heard.
“It took the entire congregation to make this a reality,” she said.
Social action is very much at the heart of this church’s mission, with participation in projects by Habitat for Humanity, affordable housing initiatives and meal donations to Welcome House – located across from their new home. They often gather in support of nonviolence, it is noted in a DVD produced for the capital campaign.
Having been named a “Breakthrough Congregation” for 2009 means the local group is “doing things really well, and [is] growing as a result. The Unitarian Universalist Association showcases four congregations each year at General Assembly, our denomination’s national convention attended by thousands of Unitarian Universalists,” noted Kornitzer, this group’s first settled minister. She has held the post for the past four years.
Tracy Hart of South Kingstown, church vice president, said being recognized is not just exciting for the local group, but also allows for broader inspiration to members across the nation.
“Our story will be inspiring to other congregations. It’s that yes-we-can energy,” Hart said. Moving into the new building will allow the group to grow and “serve the community,” she said.
The new church, Kornitzer added, “allows us to be more useful members of the community.”
Arline A. Fleming can be reached at aafleming@cox.net.
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