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11/12/1999 10:18 6127860658 SUNRISE UMCTED MET PAGE 01
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<br /> a • Sunrise Methodist Church was organised in January
<br /> `' ' "' Y' �(' 4( !' ' ' of 1954 at the Sunnyside School in New Brighton. A moving
<br /> force in the organization was Dr. E. B.Cooney St.Paul Dia-
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<br /> 'I e;,,,:,; f '"k trict Superintendent. The congregation continued to meet
<br /> at Sunnyside until November of 1957 when it moved into
<br /> its new building at 2520 County Road I in Mounds View.
<br /> • By the summer of 1954, when the charter list was closed,
<br /> 83 persons had become members of Sunrise
<br /> a rented For
<br /> first two years the Sunrise pastorpar-
<br /> sonage. By 1956 a parsonage had been built with much of
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<br /> r , , the labor donated by members of the congregation. Next
<br /> • ��'','.�';'r - an old church building was moved to the present church site
<br /> meeting
<br /> ,.,�•,�� �;�� �s r � F,, , from West St. Paul. This was to be a temporary
<br /> L,/.,L.: ‘•-i,..°`'' place until a new structure could be built. The mover who
<br /> h •4t• `r.:. brought the old church here from West St.Paul did not•have
<br /> the proper moving permit, he was apprehended by the police
<br /> after the church building hit a power line and knocked out
<br /> the electrical service for a large section of St. Paul. He was
<br /> fined $150.00.
<br /> Financial problems made it necessary to incorporate the old church building in plans for the new. A
<br /> basement was built beneath the old building, the peaked roof was replaced by a flat roof, and a ground-level
<br /> educational unit was built around it. The result was a "split-level sanctuary" with the overflow area some three
<br /> feet higher than the chapel in the new part of the building. as interim pastor of the
<br /> The Rev, Arthur Beckendorf, a retired Methodist missionary, was appointed
<br /> newly formed Sunrise congregation and served here from January, 1954, until June of thatsame year. At the
<br /> June, 1964, Annual Conference a full-time pastor was appointed to serve the congregation- He was the Rev.
<br /> Robert Armand who, with his wife and three children, came here from a pastorate in Ohio.
<br /> The Rev. Armand
<br /> served here for 5 years and then was forced to retire because of failing health. In 1959 the Rev.Donald Shef and
<br /> came to Sunrise church and was here for 3 years. In 1962 the Rev.Sheffield moved to Hutchinson,
<br /> the Rev. William Foster became this church's third pastor.
<br /> Caanan, Connecticutt For six weeks the Rev. W, Erle
<br /> April of 1964, at which time he
<br /> accepted an appointment to serve a Methodst church in
<br /> Shields, a retired Methodist minister, served the congregation.
<br /> In May of 1964,the present pastor came to Sunrise from Walker Methodist Church of Howard Lake,MN.
<br /> On May 6, 1965, the church and parsonage were struck by a tornado. The church was considered a
<br /> total loss by the insurance company and the parsonage suffered about $6000 damage. Plans were begun immedi-
<br /> ately for a new building. Throughout the summer the congregation met for worship in the Bel Rae Ballroom,
<br /> about four blocks from the church site. In the fall it began meeting in the Red Oak School and continued there
<br /> for a year. During the summer the congregation tore down the remaining church structure and sold much of the
<br /> salvageable material. With some professional help, members of the congregation built a three-car garage in order
<br /> to provide parking for the parsonage cars and additional storage for the church. Construction on a new church
<br /> began in December, 1965, and the congregation moved into the new structure in September o 1966.was e con-
<br /> tractor for the new church was Henning Nelson. The architect was Roger T. Johnson,
<br /> $200,000. In September, 1967, the church and the architect received an award for architectural excellence from
<br /> the Minnesota Society of Architects. Sunrise church was the only church in Minnesota to share in such an award
<br /> in 1967.
<br /> During the fall and spring, 1966-67, members of the congregation laid nearly 3000 yards of sod around
<br /> the new building. In the summer of 1967 they installed parking lot lights and that fall the parking lot was black-
<br /> topped. An additional sidewalk was added and a landscape project begun in the spring of 1968.
<br /> From October of 1972 until November of 1973 the Abiding Savior Lutheran congregation rented our
<br /> facilities for most of their mid-week activities while their new building was under construction. This was a very
<br /> busy time for Sunrise with two congregations making use of the same space, especially in view of the fact that
<br /> their congregation is about 3 times larger than ours. In September of 1972 the Fellowship Hall was carpeted to
<br /> make space more usable with less noise. In January of 1974 the Sunrise congregation celebrated its 20th anni-
<br /> versary with District Superintendent Clarence Nicholas as guest speaker.
<br /> The congregation has grown from an original $3 to a present 540. Budget-wise it has gone from an
<br /> annual figure of around $12,000 to a present figure of around$53,000. The 1973-74 year has seen a church-wide
<br /> spiritual renewal which we believe will be of lasting significance. In the fall of 1974 we are planning to have a
<br /> pastor's assistant from nearby New Brighton Seminary. We are also presently involved in plans for the final edu-
<br /> • .•'''.eational unit to be added on the north side of our present structure. All in all,the future looks bright for Sunrise
<br /> .. _. A +n,nr,fv opwr neriod of its life in Northern Suburbia. •
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