Contributing Writer

The Fayetteville First United Methodist Church has just

held consecration services for its new Family Life and

Education Center. The original groundbreaking was held

in October 1997 and has been completed for $3.2 million.

The center contains 20 new Sunday School rooms, freeing

up a number of rooms in the older section for new classrooms.

The big Family Life Center room can seat 400 at a meal

and contains two electric baseball goals. Everything that can be

put in the room is portable, from bleachers to a staging area

that can measure 15 feet by 30 feet, all of which can be folded up

and rolled into an adjoining storeroom.

The church dates back to 1828 and is currently in its fourth

site since that time. The current pastor of the 1,700

member congregation is Dr. Sam Matthews.

<!--##############