Our History
Our first home at Margaret St. and Gilmore St
On November 7, 2002, a letter was
written and sent out:
Dear Friend,
Over the past few months I
have been hearing from a number of Riverside folks who have expressed to
me the same concerns. You have wanted to find a faith community that you
really wanted to feel you belonged to, but have been, so far, unsuccessful
in your attempts.
On November 17, 2002, at
6:00 PM in the fellowship hall of the Arlington Congregational Church, we
are all going to come together and begin forming this new faith community.
I have some information to share with you about possibly forming Riverside
United Church of Christ. Please make every effort to come to this meeting.
I am tremendously excited
about the way in which God is guiding this process and hope to see you on
November 17th.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Linda D. Girouex
And from that humble beginning, on February 2, 2003,
Riverside United Church of Christ met for the first time with 25 people in
attendance (including 4 children) at 2018 Gilmore Street in Jacksonville's
Riverside area. It was a wonderful service filled with a real sense of
God's presence and the anticipation of great things to come!
That first Sunday service on Gilmore was reported in
the Times Union:
Our prayer is that in this
space will be spiritual grounding from a contemplative tradition joined
with a deep commitment to outreach and social justice issues of our time.
Riverside United Church of Christ will embody these two aspects of a faith
community with one force continuing to drive the other in a cycle of love,
care, compassion and faith which will create a prayerful and energized
group of diverse souls united in God's spirit. We will be a faith
community that embraces, nurtures, reconciles and celebrates God's love
for us all as seen and revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and in the
reality of the Holy Spirit.
Another article on March 10, 2004 in the Times Union
by staff writer Sandy Strickland had this to say:
The venerable red brick
church at Margaret and Gilmore streets has housed a diverse body of
worshipers through the decades. In the 1920s it served a Syrian and
Lebanese congregation. Later it was home to Korean Presbyterian
worshipers. Then it was used by Hispanic communicants. Now Riverside
United Church of Christ and its 30 or so members are leasing the property.
We have a real vision before us of this little corner," said the Rev.
Linda Girouex, the church's pastor.
In March
2009, God moved us to our beautiful new church home on the corner of Post
and Cherry. We continue to be brought together by God to share the love
and warmth of his presence with others as an
open and affirming
congregation, and we welcome all to worship who know God's love to be
inclusive of all individuals.
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