3/28/2010 New Narthex Opening Celebration
Go to Album
Lincroft church cuts ribbon on renovation
MIDDLETOWN — With the addition of a little more light and space, Lincroft Presbyterian Church members may be better able each week to connect with God. Lincroft Presbyterian Church's pastor, the Rev. Brian Croak, said the church's newly expanded "narthex," or entryway, provides a larger and warmer welcoming environment for congregants to mentally ready themselves to talk with God at each Sunday sermon."There's now a spatial element where congregants can mentally prepare themselves before they walk in to worship," Croak said.
Roughly 125 members of the congregation came together Sunday on a cold, blustery morning to partake in the ribbon-cutting ceremony that formally opens the narthex of the small church that sits on the corner of West Front St. and Everett Road.
The opening is the culmination of a four-year capital-funding campaign from parishioner donations to pay for the new $250,000 church entryway that follows the American Arts and Crafts architectural movement started by legendary architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 19th century, using only wood, cinderblock, brick and stone as materials.
While overcast skies didn't allow for sunlight to cascade through the narthex's new windows to show off the entrance, congregants still smiled and looked on in admiration at the olive green and beige wood and brick structure designed by Red Bank-based S.O.M.E. architects. The work was done by Eastern NJ Builders, starting in October and finishing in late March.
Members of the church building committee, Marianne Ziegler, Joanne Irwin, Jill Humann, Tim Neher and John Schubel, oversaw the job, even selecting the building materials, including pavers, moldings and hardware.
With children serving as ribbon-holders, Croak, Middletown Mayor Gerald Scharfenberger and the Rev. William Jordan snipped the light-blue ribbon.
The ceremony coincided with the celebration of Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday for Christians.
Besides the clean and simple horizontal structural lines, large windows provide ample light in a warm, brown interior made of maple, birch and fir. The new foyer also provides a clear sight line from the front door, through the vestibule, narthex and eventually into the church sanctuary and down to the cross that serves as the centerpiece to the altar.
"Visually, they (worshipers) can now see the Lord's cross as soon as they walk in," Croak said.
The narthex also now provides more efficient heating and cooling, a handicap-accessible bathroom, an office, a meeting room and a choir room with storage facilities.
The origins of Lincroft Presbyterian date back to before the Civil War when the Red Bank Baptist Church in 1846 started a mission in Leedsville, later renamed Lincroft. In 1960, the congregation affiliated with what was the United Presbyterian Church, and the Lincroft Church eventually was built in 1966.Jim McConville: 732-308-7757 or jmcconville@app.com