Universalist Church of Eldorado
Eldorado, Ohio, USA
http://www.universalistchurch.net/eldorado/
1. LOCATION:
Eldorado is a western Ohio farm town of about 800 residents.
Our
1908 chapel sits on the corner of Main Cross Street and Monroe Street.
(See our website
for a picture.)
Visitors can find it just north of US-40, inside the town of Eldorado,
near
the Indiana-Ohio stateline.
US-40 connects to Eldorado via Route-726.
The
only other churches in the area are 1 Methodist church,
and 1 German Baptist
Brethren church (think Amish who drive black cars).
2. DESCRIPTION:
Currently we have 34 adult members and 8 children (children age 2-16).
We
meet for worship almost every Sunday at 10AM.
The only exceptions are Labor
Day Sunday (no church service),
and the Sunday before Christmas
(no morning
service, but a 7PM Christmas carol service instead).
We have a small youth
group that meets for occasional activities.
We have a part-time pastor who
is in the pulpit 2-3 Sundays per month.
Other Sunday preachers include lay
people,
seminary students from the Earlham School of Religion,
local
Quakers, our minister emeritus,
the minister of the UU church in Lima,
and a
local Bible historian affiliated with The Westar Institute
3. HISTORY:
Our church was founded in 1848 by a traveling missionary named Jonathan
Kidwell.
Jonathan planted 5 Universalist churches in our county,
but our congregation
is the only one that survived to the present
(a sister congregation in Eaton
persisted till the 1950's).
The current church building is the third in the
Eldorado congregation's history.
The Eldorado congregation almost died out
in the first decade of the 1900's,
but was rescued by the charismatic
Universalist revivalist, the Rev. Sarah Stoner.
She eventually served this
church for 15 years.
In the 1950's we re-started the dormant Universalist
church
in New Madison, OH (located in a neighboring county).
4. THE FUTURE:
In recent years rural depopulation has hurt our church severely.
In 2001
our membership was down to 25 adults and 10 children.
Recently we've gone
through a period of renewal.
To date our membership has grown to 34 adults
and 8 children.
Some newcomers are young adults
and we are considering
adding an evening "contemporary" music vespers service
(one of our new young
adults is a musician and has good contacts for bands).
5. CURRENT HAPPENINGS:
Our annual traditions include sponsoring the town's Easter Fair,
hosting the
Fall Harvest Dinner,
and dedicating the Cancer Society Christmas Tree at a
nearby park.
6. CONTACT:
Postal mail can be sent to:
The Universalist Church;
PO Box 239;
Eldorado,
OH 45321.
E-mail contact:
derekparker@hotmail.com
Profile created by Derek Parker, pastor, November 2003.