Mennonite group proposes Lewis County community center

TURIN — A group of Mennonites is looking to build a community and worship center in southern Lewis County, possibly in the Turin area.

"We're not pushing a sacred house of worship," the Rev. Brian D. Siegrist, the group's leader, said. "We're pushing more of a community center environment."

However, the proposed center is to be called the Christian Community Center and be "unashamedly Christian," he said.

The vision of the group — primarily consisting of several families from existing Mennonite congregations who live south of Lowville — is to build a facility with a multipurpose room that could be used for services, weddings and funerals, as well as games such as volleyball and basketball, the Rev. Mr. Siegrist said. Outdoor athletic fields also are part of the plan.

"We just want to be creative," he said.

The proposed 64-by-122-foot structure also could house after-school programs, youth activities, parenting and family classes and self-help groups, plus meet other community needs as they arise, the Rev. Mr. Siegrist said.

"I believe healthy marriages and homes are some of the building blocks of a healthy community," he said.

Group members are meeting twice per month in homes while looking at possible building sites and temporary meeting quarters, he said. The target area is the Route 26 corridor around Turin.

Group members are conducting a scrap metal collection drive to help raise money for the project and have pledged to contribute personal funds once a site is determined, the Rev. Mr. Siegrist said.

The group has the support of the Jefferson-Lewis Mennonite Mission Board, which includes representatives from the five area Conservative Mennonite Conference member churches: Lowville, Naumburg, Croghan, Pine Grove and Carthage.

With no Mennonite congregations in the county south of Lowville, various people have considered some type of southerly expansion in recent years, said the Rev. Evan S. Zehr, pastor at Lowville Mennonite Church and pastoral liaison to the mission board.

"Brian's willingness to step out like that certainly puts feet under it," he said.

The Rev. Mr. Zehr said he appreciates the mission board's commitment to the project and is hopeful that existing churches in the county's southern region see it as a complementary effort, not a threat.

"It was kind of a merging of our interests and experiences with existing visions," the Rev. Mr. Siegrist said.

The Rev. Mr. Siegrist and his wife, Cheri R. Lyndaker Siegrist, were involved in church planting efforts in Alaska while attending Alaska Bible Institute, and he also taught there for four years.

The Siegrists also spent 61/2 years in Florida working with a new congregation there before moving to Lowville, Mrs. Siegrist's home community, 41/2 years ago. They currently attend Naumburg Mennonite Church.

While lacking a physical location, the Christian Community Center already has scheduled its first Vacation Bible School. The Bible school, for children ages 3 to 12, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 18 through 22 at the Constableville pavilion, with the theme being "King's Kids."

"You've got to wear play clothes," Mrs. Siegrist said.

Anyone seeking more information on the Bible school or the community center project may call the Rev. Mr. Siegrist at 771-7968.