Manito Presbyterian Will Dedicate Building Project

Worshipers attending Sunday’s services at Manito Presbyterian Church will be greeted at a new entrance - the new Latawah entrance greeting area.

After five years of planning and fund-raising, the church at 401 E. 30th has completed its $1.4 million construction and remodeling project, said the Rev. L. Douglas Waggoner, senior pastor.

A dedication ceremony will be at 9:45 a.m., with regular worship services at 8:30 and 11 a.m.

Members actually began discussing the necessity of expansion - adding office space, classrooms and more inviting entrances - during the early 1970s, Waggoner said.

To do it, however, they had to accept a major financial challenge, he said.

“Last year, members honored over 45 percent of building fund pledges in a three-year ‘Forward by Faith Campaign,”’ he said.

The project includes a 7,700 square-foot, three-story administration center, a new nursery, seven new classrooms in the education wing, four additional rooms for youth and adult Sunday school classes, an expanded food and clothing bank, three elevators - and the extended main entry.

Besides all that, the Latawah entrance greeting area features a kitchenette for receptions, restrooms, a chapel and a room that might become a non-profit bookstore one day.

The church was in need of added space, Waggoner said. Attendance at services and other activities has been burgeoning:

Last summer, more than 400 children were enrolled for vacation Bible school and were led by 200 volunteers.

There are 12 weekday Bible study groups, three preschool classes and a daily kindergarten class.

A Saturday evening worship service, begun a year ago, averages attendance of 75.

Sunday attendance increased by 5 percent in 1995 to an average of 420, and more than 1,300 people attended services over Christmas weekend.

The church has a roster of 600 active and involved members.

The weekly attendance ratio is more than 70 percent of church members, compared to a 25 percent average for all Protestant churches in America, Waggoner said.

Part of the reason for growth is the variety of services offered, he said. Saturday evening services are contemporary, designed to attract unchurched families unfamiliar with the formality of the usual Sunday morning worship.

The 8:30 a.m. Sunday service is a contemporary style of praise, while the 11 a.m. service is traditional.

“I’ve visited churches across the country,” said Waggoner, now in his eighth year at Manito Presbyterian.

“Many of those that are not changing their style to meet the needs of today are folding up. It’s that simple.”

Habitat dedication planned

The House of Faith, built by members of five Roman Catholic churches in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, will be dedicated at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The Most Rev. William S. Skylstad, bishop of the Spokane Diocese, will bless the house of Carmen “Raquel” Helms and her family at 1519 N. Crestline.

Some 250 volunteers from the five parishes - Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, Sacred Heart, St. Augustine and St. Ann - organized, raised funds, recruited volunteers and constructed the 35th Habitat-Spokane home built since 1987.

A total of $50,714 was raised for the three-bedroom home, dubbed the House of Faith.

Promise Keepers meeting

Those alarm bells you might have heard this morning were rung as a “Wake-Up Call” for the Promise Keepers, who are meeting from 9:30 to noon today at the Spokane Opera House.

Featured speakers at the men-only event include the Rev. Reggie Witherspoon and the Rev. Wayne Taylor, both of Seattle.

Organ recital scheduled

The winner of the 1995 Youth Organists Competition, sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, will present a concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Central Lutheran Church, 309 W. Fifth.

Adam Kohne, 17, won the top prize for the Region VII contest, held in Portland.

Kohne, a high school junior at the Interlochen (Mich.) Arts Academy, holds a double major in organ and viola. He is a native of Salem, Ore.

GU schedules workshop

The Most Rev. Robert Morneau, auxiliary Roman Catholic bishop of Green Bay, Wis., will conduct a two-day workshop and retreat at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center, 6910 S. Ben Burr Road, March 28-29.

“Emerging Church: The Impact of Spiritual Change” is the topic of the event, sponsored by Gonzaga University’s religious studies department.

The workshop, open to the public, costs $50.

To register or to learn more information, call 328-4220, ext. 3383.

Prayer breakfast Tuesday

Whitworth College will host a prayer breakfast for Spokane-area clergy and church and ministerial professionals on Tuesday.

The breakfast, from 7-8:30 a.m. in the Seeley G. Mudd Chapel on campus, will be a time of fellowship and community and spiritual renewal for church officials of all denominations.

Dale Bruner, a Whitworth religion professor, will lead a devotional.

For more information, call 466-3275.

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