Mormons donate to historic Poway church

By Pat Kumpan

A $13,000 donation from the Green Valley Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is helping the Community Church of Poway reach its goal of $60,000 to restore its 150-year-old chapel.

Bishop Tim Konold, left, of the Green Valley Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presents a $12,000 check to Rev. Glen D. Larsen Jr. to help pay for renovations to the Community Church of Poway Chapel. A week later, the Mormons donated another $1,000 for a total contribution of $13,000. Photo by Suzanne Emery

Rev. Glen D. Larsen Jr., pastor of the Community Church, said that his congregation is “overjoyed” to get a helping hand from the Mormons, which puts the final tally just short of $7.900 needed to finish the restoration.

The first and most extensive phase of the renovation has been the roof, which was infested with bees.

After the bees were removed, workers stripped off the old lead paint from the roof’s wood slats and coated the wood with a 25-year paint.

The church, located at the corner of Community Road and Hilleary Place, considered a historical landmark, is a Queen Anne Victorian-style chapel built in 1887.

After the painting of the exterior is finished, new carpeting for the interior will be next, as well as a handicap-accessible ramp.

Bishop Tim Konold of the LDS Church on Twin Peaks Road said, “This dear old church building is a symbol of the faith of this community and we are pleased to be able to help in its preservation.”

“This is a wonderful act of interfaith cooperation and builds on a most rewarding and warm relationship between our congregations,” said Larsen. “With these funds, together with those already contributed, we will be able to complete the first two (and largest) phases of our project.

“We are most grateful to the Mormons for what this contribution symbolizes,” Larsen added.

For those who want to make a donation to the renovation project, make checks payable to Community Church of Poway and send it, or drop it off at: 13501 Community Road, Poway, CA 92064. Write “Chapel Preservation” on the memo line of the check.

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Posted by patkumpan on Jan 5 2012. Filed under Local News, Poway. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry