Umstead Park UCC Ready for Service Starting August 26th

Umstead Park UCC started life as a radical church. Since its inception it has been surrounded by controversy and battered by rejection. Its first name, North Raleigh UCC has carved a niche in the history of the UCC in Eastern North Carolina.

Sunday August 26th the church will hold its first service in the Brownleigh building on Brownleigh Road just off Route 70. This road is the first street south of the entrance to Umstead State Park.

The church grew from the idea of Pastor Doug Long and his wife Denise Long nearly a decade ago. It sounded pretty straight forward when the couple held there first service meeting. The word is they got eight people at that meeting.

It was after all a rather simple idea. Start a church where everyone was welcome regardless of just about anything you can imagine. Sort of like the way Jesus just went out and preached to anyone willing to listen. It seems the Long's were a little on the naïve side when it comes to what some folks think church is about.

Even though the United Church of Christ sponsored the Long's there was a requirement that they needed to become members of the local church conference. This proved to be more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

North Raleigh's entry into the local conference was rejected initially. It seems if you allow some kinds of folks to hear the word you must not be Christian enough. Gays, Lesbians, former criminals, single parent families, all races, atheists and even northerners were welcome. That kind of blasphemy was not to be allowed.

It took time but eventually the conference approved the new church. A few congregations left the UCC over the issue. It was more than they could abide.

The quest for a permanent home started full steam once acceptance had occurred. By now the church had grown to over a hundred members. It had moved from its first temporary space a Durant Road Middle School to the Kerr YMCA.

A YMCA basketball court is not the best place for a growing vibrant church.

After many false starts and rejected offers the church was watching prices go up as land disappeared.

Then one day, perhaps we might call it a miracle (just for fun), someone talked to an architectural firm that was experiencing the same problem. They had found an underused building that they could not afford after going through the land search.

Someone suggested why not partner in the building. It would cost less than building new and we would each get the space we needed.

The UCC looked at the proposal, as they were providing some funding, and liked what they saw.

Not only will Umstead Park UCC, which now serves as a regional church, begin with its first service on Sunday August 26th at 10:30 am but it will be part of one of the first LEED reuse projects in the city of Raleigh.

Everything taken out of the old building was either reused or recycled. Everything, except some appliances (which are all energy star), in the building in the way of furniture and cabinets is recycled from other places. Both the church and the architectural firm are taking the recycle or reuse process very seriously. It fits well with the concept of being good stewards of the land.

The service will be every week at 10:30 starting August 26th