GREENVILLE – Saturday morning, the First Presbyterian Church in Greenville celebrated its new renovations with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“I think it’s really amazing to be able to see such new, beautiful change and growth in a church,” Rachel Neal, Director of the Darke County Chamber of Commerce said. “It’s so lovely out here. There’s a reflection of the new and original.”
The original church was built in 1889, becoming the second structure to house the church congregation formed in 1881, just 12 years after the City of Greenville was founded. In 1986 an addition was built onto the church. That was the last time renovations were done until now.
The church has been taking on the task of bringing in younger families. In doing this, they realized they needed to update their facilities to appeal to and love the young families well.
They invited families to come in and give suggestions on what needed to be changed. The church took it to heart and made the long overdue renovations.
“We want to be relevant to the world around us and, at the same time, hold on to the things that make up the fabric or the foundation of society in general and our community here,” Pastor Andrew Gilman explained. “We are very intentional about hanging on to the things that matter most, stretching into new areas, and not being afraid to go to places that God is calling us now.”
They would like to thank their church elders for their support, for listening to criticism, and for agreeing to make changes, as well as the education committee, renovation committee, revitalization committee, and furnishings committee.
They would also like to thank the businesses who helped throughout this process: Garmann Miller, Bruns, and Innovative Office Solutions.
Finally, they would like to thank the congregation, which voted to continue moving forward and financially supported the project, raising over $200,000.
Church services are every Sunday at 10 am.
“We pride ourselves on being a church that’s a Presbyterian church,” Pastor Andrew Gilman said. “It’s elder-led, it’s Bible-based, Christ-centered, and it’s family-focused.”
