Grace Presbyterian Church recently closed on the purchase of the Water Mill church building where its congregants have been meeting for worship and fellowship for the past six years.
The building, located at the corner of Montauk Highway and Scuttle Hole Road, belonged to Hamptons Alliance Church, from which Grace Presbyterian leased space.
Grace Presbyterian Church boasts a regular Sunday attendance of between 110 and 125 adults and children, and a height of 220 guests last Easter. Grace is part of the Presbyterian Church in America denomination and is an affiliate church of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.
A building dedication ceremony is planned May 19 at noon. The ceremony will be preceded by morning worship at 10 a.m and followed by a reception at 12:30 p.m.
“We are excited to hold this dedication ceremony because of what it means to have a permanent home in our community,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Middlekauff, in a statement. “It means that our mission to build a congregation which glorifies God and loves and serves our neighbors is becoming more and more of a reality.”
As part of the ceremony, an oak tree will be planted. According to a statement from the church, the symbolic act of planting an oak is rooted in the Old Testament passage, “So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”
Grace will give out oak saplings for guests to plant at home.
“Nothing says you are committed to living in a community for the long-haul better than the purchase of a home,” Middlekauff said. “Owning this building reminds us of our calling to serve the Hamptons as well as lets our neighbors know we are committed to them.”
