United Methodist celebrating 50 years

The United Methodist Church of Chugiak is marking its 50th anniversary with a three-day celebration Feb. 13-15. Events will include a 1950s night of dinner and dancing, starting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 13. The youth are cooking and serving the meal, while the adults are encouraged to dig out flared skirts, saddle shoes and other 1950s memorabilia.

On Feb. 14 from 1 to 4 p.m., the church is hosting an open house and birthday party with refreshments, music, children's activities and a historical display. At 7 p.m., the Montana Logging and Ballet Company is performing at the Chugiak High School Auditorium.

The company has been described by the Christian Science Monitor as "no ordinary logging and ballet company."

Common Cause magazine said, "Imagine Garrison Keillor, Art Buchwald and the Smothers Brothers on stage together, and you begin to get an idea of the MLBC."

Tickets are $25 and available at the door. The money helps benefit the church's building program.

On Feb. 15, the celebration concludes with a 10 a.m. Sunday service in the sanctuary. It will be followed by a coffee hour to share fellowship, memories and plans for the future.

United Methodist Church of Chugiak was chartered Feb. 14, 1954, by 13 members.

Les and Dottie Fetrow and Margaret Swanson, three of the original 13 members, are still part of the congregation. The Rev. David Blackburn was the first pastor.

The first building had housed a grocery store, called Swanee Slopes, and the furnishings had not all been removed in time for the first Christmas concert. A child playing an angel had to stand on an old store freezer.

Building continued steadily in the those early years, and the congregation grew. In 1961, the church received a land patent under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act and moved to its present location on the Old Glenn Highway near South Birchwood Loop.

The members built a small one-story building with a multipurpose room that served as both the sanctuary and meeting place in the original location.

In 1966, they constructed a second-story sanctuary and classrooms.

The sanctuary, with floor-to-ceiling windows, provides a beautiful view of Knik Arm and Mount McKinley.

In 1973, the congregation built a log parsonage next door to the church. During this project, Rev. Gene Groves once had to be reminded while working construction, that he was scheduled to officiate a wedding.

Taking off his tool belt and hastily slipping on his clerical robe, he hurried next door to the church in the nick of time.

During the years, the church has opened its doors for community use. The buildings have been used for schools, Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al Anon, Eagle River Moms and other local groups.

According to church organizers, the church has always emphasized that all are welcome, and in keeping with that theme, members have a tradition of dressing simply for Sunday services so that people will feel comfortable about attending, regardless of whether or not they are well dressed.

Under pastors Rachel Lieder Simeon and Dan Wanders, the church has completed a 17,000-square-foot addition and expansion project that began in 2000. The project adds a family life center with a gymnasium, and new meeting rooms and administrative space.

A majority of the construction has been done by church members and more than two dozen volunteer teams from the Lower 48, with support from local specialty contractors.

The facility is intended to serve the community as well as the congregation.