June 5, 2024
We held our first summer services this past Sunday at Bethel Community Center, (not counting the trial run we did earlier this spring.) We can safely say three things about this new venue:
1. It’s somewhat inconvenient.
2. It’s temporary.
3. We are oh, so grateful to have it!
Located at 49 Kendrick Ford Road, the rented chapel space is a few minutes’ drive from the center of Front Royal, just northwest of the airport. Our calendar entries for Sunday services have a "map" link to show you the location.
Historic Bethel
Bethel was once a little village. It had two churches back then. It still does. But at one point it also had its own post office, a store, and a public school. In fact, the community center where we’re meeting for the summer used to be Bethel’s school house.
The inconveniences of our new rented chapel space are really minor. The chairs are hard; bring a pillow. There’s no lobby, so you may have to sit outside for a brief time until the chapel opens at 10:15. There are only 2 bathrooms—one for men and one for women—each with just one stall.
BUT! Here’s the important part: While we’re waiting for our new Greenfield Chapel to be constructed, we have a safe, quiet, rural space to gather with Master’s family and meditate.
It’s not easy to locate such a venue. We had to leave our previous summer quarters when the Warren County Community Center started renting rooms to other clients on Sunday mornings. (Let’s just say it’s a challenge to go deep in mediation while folks in the room next door are raucously cheering for their favorite local sports teams.)
We are blessed to have this temporary chapel space just a few minutes’ drive out of town.