The chancel ad hoc committee is delighted to announce that the construction of the chancel will begin the week of March 12th and will be completed by the weekend of Passover and Easter.
A chancel is defined as “the part of a church containing the altar, where the clergy and the choir usually sit.” We began the chancel project in the early fall with the goal of creating a dedicated worship space. Some of the reasons for creating a chancel were allowing the congregation to see the minister, providing better organization for the choir, providing children a place to sit at the beginning of the service where they could be seen, allowing the minister to hear the choir and see people lighting candles – all while not decreasing the number of people who could be seated in the sanctuary. The chancel installation is designed to be semi-permanent.
The committee consisted of the chairs or representatives of the following committees: Facilities, Worship, Arts and Aesthetics, two board members, and Rev. Debra and Nichole. Thank you to Bob Howard, Steve Ewart, Mary Ellen Mogee, Cecile Batchelor, Julia Norrgard and Randy Newton for being part of the process. We worked hard together to develop a plan that met all of our desires.
The ad hoc committee worked with a pro bono designer to develop a consensus on desired chancel elements – our thanks go to Darius Sarraf, spouse of UUCR member, Amina Sarraf for guiding the beginning of the process.
John Welch created the final plan for the chancel and will be the lead builder and contractor on the project. John is being assisted by Bob Howard, Ron Orr, Ralph Tartaglione, and Harold Stover. They will be constructing the chancel during the next three weeks during the day. Evening activities will go on as planned.
We are so excited and grateful to all who have participated! Join us on Easter Sunday when we dedicate our new chancel.