Our Church Building

The cornerstone for our church building was laid in 1919, when we were the James Street Methodist Episcopal Church. In the 1960s we added a large education wing to the church, which continues to serve our Sunday School classes and our nursery school, Wee Learn on James.

The buildings have a brick exterior, and though we try hard to maintain them well, they probably wouldn't appear on a list of the most attractive church buildings in the area. But we know that what goes in inside, and whether JSUMC is accomplishing its mission, is far more important than the appearance of the physical buildings themselves. We hope that our newcomers and visitors will find a warm, welcoming church family at JSUMC, and not judge us by the somewhat plain external appearance of our building.

Our attractive sanctuary is arranged in a quarter-circle, with an inclined seating area that provides good visibility.  Most of the lighting is soft and indirect.  These were likely considered fairly progressive architectural features at the time of construction. The seats are cushioned for comfort, and there is a good sound system.  We have a fine pipe organ, and the choir performs from the altar area, facing the congregation for all to appreciate. Several beautiful stained-glass windows enhance the sanctuary.

Other features of our church building include: A large fellowship hall, with a stage, in the basement.  Some of the other groups that meet in our building use this room, and we use it for special events. A small dining/meeting room in the basement, also used by other groups and for smaller meetings. A large, well-equipped kitchen with a commercial stove, oven, refrigerator, sink and dishwasher, and an extensive collection of cooking and serving implements.  Among the uses it gets are our annual Election Day chicken-and-biscuit dinner (open to the public) and occasional pancake breakfast fund-raisers for the youth fellowship.  Both the fellowship hall and the small dining room are adjacent to the kitchen. A fully equipped church office, and an office for our pastor. A library with inspirational books, reading materials, and videos for all age levels. Two lounges adjacent the sanctuary, which are frequently used for meetings and other activities.  The Memorial Lounge is used on Sundays for a coffee hour following the worship service. Rooms for our choir to practice and store their robes and music materials, and for our youth fellowship meetings.

An illuminated stained glass panel located in our chapel

In addition, the education wing, dedicated to Mary Knapp, a long time leader of our church's educational ministries, provides the following:

• Street-level rooms for our well-equipped nursery school, Wee Learn on James.

• Several classrooms in which our Sunday School meets.

• Rooms where child care is provided during worship services and certain other events.  One room is equipped for infant care.

• A handicapped-accessible rest room on the same level as our sanctuary, chapel, lounge, library, and offices.

However, our church building is fairly old, and does have some features that present challenges for us:

• It has a slate roof that requires frequent and sometimes expensive repair.  This roof also sheds snow and ice in very large chunks onto the sidewalk, forcing us to close a portion of the sidewalk at certain times in the winter to lessen the safety hazard.

• Not much thought was given in 1919 to the difficulty persons with physical handicaps would face in climbing the stairs to enter the building, and no matter which entrance is selected, there are stairs to climb. Only the nursery school rooms are close to sidewalk level, so most of the building is not accessible to persons who cannot easily ascend or descend stairs.  Our Handicap Access Committee has explored options such as accessibility lifts and ramps, but so far an affordable solution has not been found.

• As a plain brick building in an urban setting, it tends to blend a bit too well with the surroundings.  We'd like people to know we're here, but it's a bit too easy to pass by without noticing.

• We have no parking lot.  We've adapted okay so far, but visitors and those who find it difficult to walk often must walk from nearby on-street parking or the parking areas used by permission of friendly neighbors.  See our How To Find Us page for information on how we deal with this problem.

If you have dealt with similar problems and have suggestions you'd like to offer us, please contact us and share any helpful ideas you may have.  We'll appreciate your input.

 

 

• Fehlman Brothers Garage, on Midler Avenue, allows us to park in the few spaces in front of their building except during normal weekday business hours.

• Key Bank, at 2801 James St., and Sacred Melody Book Store at 3535 James St. also permit us to park in their lots, although these locations are less convenient.

• There are other areas also; ask us and we'll be glad to help you find them.

Not available: The parking lot adjacent to our church is reserved by its owner for customers of the businesses at the corner of Midler Avenue and James Street. We have not yet been successful in obtaining permission for persons coming to our church to park there.