You may be aware that we have a fairly substantial refurbishment of the sanctuary platform currently taking place at the church. We’re pleased to share that we are in the final stages of the project and hope to be filming our worship service in the sanctuary during the last week of November. You may not know, however, that we’ve also been working on the Fellowship Hall. Thanks to the generosity of several donors, we’ve been able to transform our Fellowship Hall into a warm, welcoming place to gather—one that we can’t wait to press into service at some point in the (hopefully near!) future.
Flooring
The flooring was replaced with a Shaw waterproof luxury vinyl plank, complete with a sound-damping pad. The installation was completed by Park Rug out of Laurel.
Partitions
The partitions and closet doors in the Fellowship Hall were, as far as we’re aware, original to the construction of the church in 1979-1980. They were in very poor condition, with one of the closet doors threatening to fall off of its tracks at any time. We worked with the Hufcor out of Annapolis Junction (who was also the original partition vendor in 1979) to replace the existing partitions and doors. The partitions and doors have acoustic damping properties that will help limit the transfer of noise from one space to the next. We also added back the two partitions that were removed many years ago. This allows us to divide the room into four sections, each with its own entry/exit door and lighting controls.
Ceiling/Lighting
The drop ceiling in the Fellowship Hall was in poor repair—we believe it to be original to the building. It has been replaced with a 2′ x 2′ grid that will better resist sagging over time. The ceiling also has acoustic damping properties designed to keep the sound levels down. Beyond the ceiling, we also replaced the fluorescent lighting panels with in-ceiling can lights, bolstered by beautiful glass “ceiling hugger” chandeliers, selected by our decorating committee. The lighting makes the room feel warm and welcoming—something you’ll experience for yourself during the hymn of response in our online worship service this Sabbath!
Paint
Last, but not least, a fresh coat of paint was applied by Spencerville member, Victor Hernandez. Victor painted the walls, trim, and inside each of the closests. The fresh paint really brightened up the room and made everything feel clean and fresh!
Future Plans
The final phase of the Fellowship Hall update will be an audiovisual system, permanently installed in the room for presentations, board meetings, and ministry groups alike. A video feed from our broadcast media room will also supply the room with audio and video from our worship services and Evensong concerts, yielding a space which can be used for worship overflow and more!
In Summary
We’re very pleased with how the room has turned out and would like to thank Keith Mack and his crew for overseeing the work in the Fellowship Hall along with the other vendors as well. We also appreciate the efforts of our decorating committee and the time investment they made into this project. It’s now a room that we’re pleased to use for potlucks, for our ministry groups, and one we’ll be proud to share with the numerous denominational organizations who rent it on occasion.