Volunteers this week are putting the finishing touches on a special project at Fountain City Presbyterian Church, a room they hope will be what Christian Education Director Lyn Oakley calls “a sacred space,” and a place for the church’s youth to call home.
Fountain City Presbyterian Church Christian Education Director Lyn Oakley
Nestled between Gresham Middle School and Fountain City Elementary School, and with a longstanding childcare program, Fountain City Presbyterian is committed to caring for young people, both inside the church walls and in the community. The church’s active youth group is about 25 strong, split between middle and high school.
Last year, the church embarked on a journey to renovate the youth room, formerly the fellowship hall in the original church building, built in 1928. Water damage from outside was slowly making the space unusable, and something had to be done. Using funds from sale of property, plus a matching gift from an anonymous church member, the church first waterproofed the outside of the room. Then, in spring 2017, members started renovating the inside, pulling up old carpet and tile, laying new flooring, painting the walls and cabinets in cheerful colors, installing new windows, running new electric wiring, updating fixtures, and even adding new flatscreen TVs to be used for Christian education.
The new space has plenty of comfy couches, plus “breakout” rooms for small groups, and a full kitchen.
“We had such good volunteers,” said church volunteer Bob Davis, who has overseen much of the project. “We were blessed.”
Church members who are professionals in building trades, like Michael Limbaugh and Rush Nicely, helped, as did a multitude of folks who contributed time or materials. Special thanks went to Barbara Riehl, Joe Schnorr and volunteer youth leader Shelley Miller.
Oakley said Fountain City Presbyterian invests time and energy in young people for one simple reason: “We love them.”
“We’ve been involved in Fountain City Ministry Center since its inception,” she said. “When we are feeding people, we started asking ourselves if, instead of plucking babies out of the river, why not look down the road and see why they were in the river in the first place.”
Comfy couches create the main seating area in the almost-finished youth room at Fountain City Presbyterian Church.
She said the walk out of poverty starts with education, so the church took on service projects at local schools and doubled down on its commitment to youth.
“Christ gave us a beautiful model of how to live, and that is to serve instead of being served,” Oakley said. “One day our youth will give the love of Christ to others in the manner we have taught them.”
The Fountain City Presbyterian youth group is already hard at work on that score. Along with Sunday school and weekly meetings, the youth have served meals at Volunteer Ministry Center monthly for 20 years, and they do their own fundraising to buy the food. They attend all regional Presbyterian events, and the members over 16 get the chance to go on a mission trip to Belize every summer.
This Sunday, Aug. 27, will be a celebration of the new youth room and the youth who will worship there. Youth group members will lead the 10:30 a.m. worship service, which will be followed by an open house in the new room, complete with a ribbon cutting, food, music by a live D.J., and tours of the new space. All are invited to attend.