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ALBERT WYMAN of Bath looks on as his children, Salvador, 6, and Georgia, 2, act a little silly for the camera during the Dec. 9 Neighborhood Café at the United Church of Christ on Congress Avenue in Bath. The free weekly meal, which often drew between 100 and 150 people, offered a time for fellowship as regulars could reconnect around a table and enjoy nutritious food. And for newcomers, there was plenty of space to find a seat and make new friends. Wyman and his wife, Roxanne Wyman, were fairly regular attendees of the café, he said. “We really enjoy the community atmosphere and have dinner without the restaurant pressure where people resent you for bringing your children.” But on Thursday, Pastor Bill Bliss told The Times Record the meal will be taking a hiatus for at least a couple of months as the church closes on the sale of its building and looks for a new permanent home in downtown Bath. Temporarily, the church has been meeting for Sunday services at the Minnie Brown Center on Washington Street, which is owned by Beth Israel Congregation. When the Neighborhood Faith Community of Bath UCC moves into its permanent home, it will set up a kitchen and restart the weekly meals, Bliss said. One of the church’s goals is to minister to the community every day, not just on Sundays, which has often meant people from a mixture of backgrounds and socio-economic classes would attend various functions. “ You get all walks of life in a place like this,” Albert Wyman said of the Tuesday night gatherings. “That’s what we want our children to be exposed to. People are similar.”
ALBERT WYMAN of Bath looks on as his children, Salvador, 6, and Georgia, 2, act a little silly for the camera during the Dec. 9 Neighborhood Café at the United Church of Christ on Congress Avenue in Bath. The free weekly meal, which often drew between 100 and 150 people, offered a time for fellowship as regulars could reconnect around a table and enjoy nutritious food. And for newcomers, there was plenty of space to find a seat and make new friends. Wyman and his wife, Roxanne Wyman, were fairly regular attendees of the café, he said. “We really enjoy the community atmosphere and have dinner without the restaurant pressure where people resent you for bringing your children.” But on Thursday, Pastor Bill Bliss told The Times Record the meal will be taking a hiatus for at least a couple of months as the church closes on the sale of its building and looks for a new permanent home in downtown Bath. Temporarily, the church has been meeting for Sunday services at the Minnie Brown Center on Washington Street, which is owned by Beth Israel Congregation. When the Neighborhood Faith Community of Bath UCC moves into its permanent home, it will set up a kitchen and restart the weekly meals, Bliss said. One of the church’s goals is to minister to the community every day, not just on Sundays, which has often meant people from a mixture of backgrounds and socio-economic classes would attend various functions. “ You get all walks of life in a place like this,” Albert Wyman said of the Tuesday night gatherings. “That’s what we want our children to be exposed to. People are similar.”
PATRONS MILL AROUND visiting and listening to holiday music prior to the meal Dec. 9 at the Neighborhood Café at the Bath United Church of Christ on Congress Avenue. Now that the church is for sale and the church has moved temporarily to the Minnie Brown Center for its Sunday services, Pastor Bill Bliss has said the café will go on hiatus for a couple months until a new permanent home — complete with kitchen — is ready.
PATRONS MILL AROUND visiting and listening to holiday music prior to the meal Dec. 9 at the Neighborhood Café at the Bath United Church of Christ on Congress Avenue. Now that the church is for sale and the church has moved temporarily to the Minnie Brown Center for its Sunday services, Pastor Bill Bliss has said the café will go on hiatus for a couple months until a new permanent home — complete with kitchen — is ready.

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