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On the Road Again...

by Shawn Barrett

On August 23-25, Shawn Barrett and Ann Ferguson spent time visiting with several former UCS church projects in the states of New Jersey and Delaware.  In addition, they had the opportunity to meet several new pastors and design build professionals with whom we have upcoming projects.

Ann Ferguson and Shawn Barrett visiting 1st Seventh
Day Adventist in Newtonville, New Jersey

August 23, 5:30 a.m., Ann and I packed the car and headed to the airport. With three days worth of clothes and a busy schedule we were off to New Jersey. It was a nice flight with non-stop service and pretzels for breakfast.

After getting our rental car we went to Newark, DE. We arrived at the Newark United Pentecostal Church just in time for the baptism of a young woman. On our visit, we met with Associate Pastor Beardsley, his expecting wife (who was to have labor induced the next day), his mother and his mother’s mother. That is right, four generations when you count the couples unborn son. Mr. Beardsley’s father, Senior Pastor James Beardsley, was in Fiji on mission work. We would have liked to have told him in person, how proud he should be of all of the hard work he put into the church’s 80' dome. Our crew assembled the sanctuary in 1991 and the church began worshipping there in 1993.

Monday, we went to Newtonville, N.J. to visit Pastor Taylor of the First Seventh Day Adventist Church. Our crew assembled the church’s 80' dome in July. We had a wonderful lunch with pastor, and two members of the church; Delores and Hubert. Our friend, Ed Canino (who designed Newtonville’s structure), of Frederick Ward Associates and his son Lucas, were also able to join us.

After lunch, we returned to Pastor Taylor’s church, to meet with clients. We feel it is always helpful to meet with clients at a project that is under construction. It helps give people a clearer understanding of our mission and our packages.

We met with five groups consisting of pastors, their wives, committee members and general contractors. The Eastern United States has been very good to our company.

Tuesday morning we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. After breakfast, we headed to Egg Harbor Township, N.J., (near Pleasantville) to visit with Pastor Roger Perry at Praise Tabernacle. Our crew assembled their 110' dome in 1985. Pastor Perry met us and gave us a tour of their facility. They are presently planning for a new fellowship hall.

After our meeting with Pastor Perry, we took the short drive to the Morning Star Church of Pleasantville. Pastor Rubin Smith and his sons, Richard and Rubin Jr., graciously greeted us. Their 80' dome sanctuary has some unique features: such as, glass block in the sidewall and a beautiful circular stained glass window behind the pulpit area. Our crew assembled Pleasantville’s structure in December of 1995.

We flew home Tuesday night just before hurricane Bonnie was to hit. Due to her winds our flight started off a little bumpy. Overall, we had a great trip. We felt honored to meet with both past clients and future clients. We are very proud of the churches we have been a part of.

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