Our History continued

 

In 1989 the Reverend John Larsen retired. The Reverend Don Poisson and the Reverend Ann Lougee served as Interim Pastors until the Reverend Lee Neuhaus took over the task September, 1990. Worshiping with four widely differing personalities in the pulpit during a little over a year's time proved to be a stimulating experience. During those interim years we purchased a computer and the church's records are retained on disks.

 

Lee faced a monumental task when he took the helm of our church with its aging membership. He injected a new vitality. Our membership increased to three hundred forty. A morning and evening Bible Study add new dimensions to our faith, and Pilgrim Fellowship were revived as well as the children's choir

The building is in use every day of the week. Pilgrim Church was home to Congregation Beth Israel, who used the building several times each week. Such groups as Parents United, Al-Anon, Alateen, Parents Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous and a Senior Citizens Duplicate Bridge group have used the facilities on a regular basis, as well as various single-use groups, here for a few hours, a weekend, or a short series of meetings. The most joyous of these occasions are weddings and the annual Madrigal Dinners given by the Shasta High School Choir during December. Significant to our faith are those who use our Great Hall for memorial services. Our choir is an integral part of the worship service, and the organ and the Bell Choir have enriched our spiritual nourishment.

Wright referred to the design of our church as "Pole and Boulder Gothic". He designed the church in the form of the ancient tent of Israel, a temporary, migratory home for pilgrims seeking new visions of themselves and their relationship to their faith.

God is available to each of us, alive, fresh, exciting, God of the present as well as Creator of our heritage. God is. Love is. This is Pilgrim Church, our Church, your Church.

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