Beginning this Sunday, Dec. 21, Neighborhood Faith Community, United Church of Christ, will begin worshiping at its new temporary home, the Minnie Brown Center.

Worship begins at 10 a.m. on Sundays. Two Christmas Eve services are also planned at 7 and 11 p.m.

The church has its longtime home at 150 Congress Ave. under contract, but the sale has not been finalized. Currently, Meadows Childcare and Learning Center and Bath Food Bank are tennants, and a handful of support groups meet there as well.

Though it will worship at Beth Israel Congregation’s Minnie Brown Center at 906 Washington St. in the interim, the church’s desire is to return to the downtown.

The church’s leaders have been considering a couple properties but have yet to finalize any deal.

“We like being back in downtown,” Pastor Bill Bliss told The Times Record. “This church started as two downtown churches in 1970. We like being a blessing and being engaged.”

The Central Church, now known as the Chocolate Church, and the Winter Street Church merged and built the facility at 150 Congress Ave. At 20,000 square feet, the facility can seat 450 in the sanctuary.

With much fewer in attendance now, there is an abundance of space.

The Congress Avenue location has been used to house a number of community programs, including a Neighborhood Café on Tuesdays, the Bath Food Pantry, and various recovery and support groups.

“We want to keep the cafe and house recovery groups,” said Bliss as he explained the church’s goals of returning to the downtown. Her added that he would like to see programs expanding, including the cafe.

The decision to move from their space began in the summer of 2013, Bliss noted. “We went into a process of discernment.” During several retreats, the church began to look closely at what it is about and what the next 15 years might look like. They considered where they should be located to best accomplish the church’s goals.

“We really wanted to be downtown,” Bliss said. The church building was placed on the market in June and attracted a buyer by September.

Bliss said the church looked at six to eight properties, trying to find the best fit to allow the congregation to continue its programming.

The pastor noted about 50 to 60 people attend a typical Sunday service, but his members regard the 100 to 150 people that attend Tuesday night’s meal and fellowship time as part of the church community.

“It’s not a soup kitchen,” he added.

Details are still being worked out for where the Neighborhood Cafe will be held in the short term. “We will continue the cafe,” he said. “We just don’t know where yet.”

Details about the future of the Bath Food Pantry were not available by press time. Director Kimberly Gates was still exploring options in early December.

dmadore@timesrecord.com