50th Anniversary of Northminster

Rev. Linda Wright Simmons Guest Preacher at Northminster 50^thAnniversary Charter Service

 

Northminster Presbyterian Church (1416 20^th St., Ames) will complete its 50^th anniversary celebration on April 29 with a 9:30 a.m. service to commemorate the receipt of its charter from the North Central Iowa Presbytery in 1962.  Guest preacher for the day will be Rev. Linda Wright Simmons, a former member of NPC.  Featured will be a historical drama, “Northminster…Through the Decades” written by Pat Meek.  Special music for the service will include the premier of “We Will Sing Praises,” a choir anthem written by church organist Paul Hertz, and the Bells of Northminster playing an arrangement by Hertz.  On display will be original artwork created by church members, 50 years of photographs (arranged by Doris Goering), a printed history of the church (written by Jan Beran), results of the “Multiply Your Talents” theme, and newly built birdhouses placed in the church yard to signify the future.  Friends and former members are invited to the lunch which follows. 

 

Northminster Presbyterian Church was started by members of Collegiate Presbyterian Church in rapidly growing north Ames, with the first worship service being held October 8, 1961 in a “manse-chapel” at 20th and Hunziker Streets.  Construction at 1416 20th Street began in 1963; the current sanctuary was added in 2001. 

 

Rev. Wright Simmons’ parents, Harold and Pat Wright, were charter members and she was baptized in Northminster.  She has a D.Min. degree from McCormick Theological Seminary and a M.Div. degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary.  She currently serves as a hospital chaplain in Winter Park, Florida, where she and her family (husband David and children Mary Ella and Eric) reside.

 

Northminster’s one-level facility is accessible for the mobility-restricted, with designated parking spaces on the east side of the building.  Licensed child-care will be provided during the scheduled events.  For other questions and to RSVP for the Sunday lunch, please call the church office at 515-233-2540.