JORDAN - It was a special day in more ways than one Sunday morning at Jordan United Methodist Church.

As the church welcomed its newest member with the baptism of Lauren Elizabeth Richardson, it also took some time to look back on its long and rich history during the church's first Homecoming Day.

The same morning that baby was introduced to her church community and the congregation introduced to its newest member, the Rev. Dana Horrell also invited the congregation to look to the church's past and to think of its future.

Horrell said that he came up with the idea of Homecoming Day.

“I am in my second year here,” Horrell said. “And I was surprised to find out that this church (the present location on Elbridge Street in Jordan) is only 25 years old, but really the roots of this church go back much further to when it was founded in 1829.”

Horrell said Sunday services are well attended, but after almost two years of service there were still members of the congregation that he has only had the opportunity to meet in passing - and he was hoping to change that.

“There are people that don't always make it to church,” Horrell said. “And I thought this would be good. We have a lot of people here with us today, some people who haven't been in a while, and this gives us a great opportunity to get more people together and look at our history and look towards our future at the same time. It is kind of like the nursery rhyme, ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.' Well we have something old and something new here today.”

Horrell welcomed back the Rev. Roley Ryan, who served at the church from 1993 to 2000. Ryan has since gone on to serve in Cortland, but said that he was pleased to be back in Jordan. He was welcomed warmly by numerous parishioners who were glad to see him back for the day.

Ryan spoke on the meaning of the church and looked to the Bible for inspiration. Ryan said that the words ‘rock' and ‘stone' appear in the Bible more than 475 times. Ryan said that numerous times in many of the stories in the Bible, such as Joshua leading the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the land of promise, a rock or stone was left as a reminder of God's will and grace.

A church serves as a similar reminder. Ryan said the church made a bold decision when in 1985 it was decided to build the present location, after the church had moved from several other locations since its founding.

Ryan pointed out the church had to worry about issues like finance. But he added that the move has paid off well, and the church has truly found a home where it serves as a reminder of the grace of God.

On display at the Homecoming Day was a timeline of the church and photos of the various buildings it once occupied, going back to the founding on June 10, 1829, by the Jordan Society of Methodists.

This timeline continued up to the present day, where the congregation members were welcome to add themselves and the special events in their lives to the timeline. During a brunch after the service, Horrell took the opportunity to discuss these events.

“It is nice to remember these kinds of things,” Horrell said. “It is a good way to get people together and talking and to remember these special times.”

It was also a time to look towards the future. Horrell hopes to help the church grow in the coming years and this process is already under way. Horrell said that on Nov. 15, there will be a special service celebrating art.

Horrell also said that he hopes to expand to a second service that will feature more music with instruments like guitar and bass, a process which he said is already getting started.

“We want to have more services in the future,” Horrell said. “And new forms of service. I am really amazed by this church and I think about what it would be like if they hadn't decided to build this church 25 years ago and what it would be like. This is a huge leap forward and we want to work to keep moving this church forward.”