The original part of the building which includes only the sanctuary, was built in 1889 as the Wanatah Christian Church. It stood one block east of this its present site until 1901. At that time it was moved on logs by horses to its present location at 208 N. Illinois St., Wanatah Indiana and a basement constructed beneath it. So the samctuary area is over 113 years old. Most of the stained glass is original to the building and survived the move intact. In 1951 the east end of the building consisting of two floors and a basement were added to serve as classrooms. A baptismal and bathrooms were added at that time. The building was in the possession of the Christian church until 1995. The Christian Church congregation built a new building out on US 30 just west of town. At that time the fate of this historic building was unknown. No serious buyers were to be found. Mr. Wayne Rice a local entrepreneur purchased the building to save it from demolition. He first leased the building to a Baptist organization who disbanded in early 2001. The building sat empty for most of the following year even though Mr. Rice had received many offers to purchase the building. The problem was that some of these perspective buyers wanted to use the building for other purposes. One, the local Catholic Church wanted to use it as an ancillary building and others which to turn it into a business or apartment building. Mr. Rice narrowed his perspectives to those who wanted to use the building with its original purpose in mind, that being the Glorification of God. We negotiated with Mr. Rice for 3 months, explaining our beliefs and our position. I like to think that we reached Mr. Rice with the Truth and our commitment to it. When He looked at us I like to think that he saw the Light of Truth emanating from each and every one of us. So even though the other organizations were bigger and more lucrative, we took possession of the Building on December 6, 2001. And so we were entrusted with this building. We were entrusted with this building so as to ensure that it would remain a lightstand in the sea of darkness around us. And having been built for another denomination, some may see this building and only look at the crosses on the windows and light fixtures and see simply the symbol of the world burdened by mistruth. But when we look at this building, when we see it, I can assure you all that all we see is the Glory of God working in our lives that we have this opportunity to further glorify God. We have a number of activities planned for the current year. These include our Sisters’ Presentations which are held on the second Sunday of the month. Sisters in our Ecclesia select a topic for discussion or perhaps supply a video to be watched and discussed by the Ecclesia as a whole. We have had interested parties from the community attend these. Upcoming we also have the Town-wide Yard sales where we plan to donate our unused items from home for sale by the Ecclesia. Any unsold clothing items will be boxed and shipped for the Chessed Clothing Drive. We are also planing a “Come and Meet Your New Neighbors” event in which we will invite the community to join us at the Hall to more understand who we are and what the Truth is all about. Also on the agenda is a youth campout. All the children will be invited to camp out in the yard of the Hall. We will have activities for all age groups centered around fellowship for the Christadelphian Youth. And lastly we have tentatively accepted a speaker for a study day or weekend entitled “The Genealogy and Geography of the Old Testament. The lecture will be open to those who would like a more complete view of peoples mentioned in the Old Testament. While we all have a basic understanding of the lines from Adam through Seth,......Noah, Shem........Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.........To the Twelve Tribes of Israel, The lecture will give a more in-depth coverage of the whole of the ancient Middle East and the peoples and geographical locations they inhabited in terms of time spans. If any of our Brothers or Sisters would like to assist in the organization or implementation of these or any of our activities just let us know. We would be happy to see you and more than happy to accept your time and effort in the Glorification of God. BrosInTruth@yahoo.com More Picures