FAIRMOUNT
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST,
CONGREGATIONAL
(FAIRMOUNT COMMUNITY CHURCH)
Wichita, Kansas

Words & Pictures: Autumn 2007 As the year draws to a close, we observe the 115th anniversary of Fairmount Church -- one of the oldest continuously active congregations in Kansas. In mid-October, we held a "birthday party" for Fairmount, starting with a potluck breakfast, then a commemorative worship service, and ending with a church meeting, to strategize how to make Fairmount last another 115 years! Like our predecessors in the Congregational Church, the Pilgrims, we give thanks to God this time of year for the bounty of the harvest -- even, quite literally, a bountiful harvest from our own community garden, started and tended by Darryl C. (shown below), with the help of many others. Among the earthy, earthly riches, Darryl harvested a huge batch of sweet potatoes for our congregation's annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner. The preservation of the grand old building of Fairmount Church has become a major focus of the congregation (see the Historic Preservation project, in the box at left). With the promise of financial aid from the state for preserving this historic landmark, we hired a contractor to renovate the roof and the shingle sidings. This fall, the work was finished. We end autumn with our annual "Hanging of the Greens" -- an annual party for decorating the church for Christmas. We set out a Christmas tree, decorate the building with pine boughs and wreaths, hang a holder for the advent candles and -- of course -- place upon the altar the "kresh" -- the arrangement of figurines symbolizing the manger scene at the birth of Jesus, as described in the Gospels, over 2000 years ago.

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