My family attended the first service this church held outside of someone’s living room in the winter of 1965, when I was 10. We met in the Palm Desert Playhouse, not a new building even then. Church was NOT a somber experience, as the poor pastor often found his sermon interrupted by a flood of giggles - as a rat ran across the stage behind his pulpit.
Growing up in a small church has many advantages. There is the comfortable feeling of family, and opportunities exist for the lay person who has a whole lot of enthusiasm, and just a little bit of talent. The first two or three years the entire choir consisted of five children - my sister, myself, and three brothers. Yes, we were able to carry a tune! In junior high, after a couple of supervised trial runs, I took over the small church nursery (and changed my first diaper). In high school I taught Sunday School, then started their first Children’s Church. I played a few piano and violin solos, sang a few duets with my sister, gave a few speeches as president of our youth group, sang in the more traditional multi-age choir, even served two years as the teen representative on the Board of Christian Education.
I remember the thrill of this brand new church building being built during my teenage years, the shock of seeing the nearly completed frame blown into shreds by a wind storm, and working alongside my dad to help clean up the mess. I have so very many wonderful memories of my years here - and not many sad ones, though many was the time I slipped into the lovely sanctuary all alone to talk with God about my current teenage angst. I remained active in the church until I married in the fall of 1972.
It was a thrill for me, when I sought permission to place this cache, to walk into a man who was one of my favorite adults “way back then”, and to speak to an extremely friendly pastor - who turned out to be a fellow geocacher! It makes me feel all warm and mushy inside to know it is still here, serving God and the community.
I had to replace, and reduce the size of, the container due to overzealous grounds keepers, so sadly the cache no longer has room for swag. Congrats to Olemaz for FTF. The cache was carefully placed to ensure that it would stay out of the water, so no need to look on the ground. Please take note of the attributes, and replace it exactly as you found it. BYOP