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<p>As she walked through the quiet sanctuary of the Westmoor Church of Christ earlier this week, Irene O&#8217;Rourke Mackiewicz paused and looked around at this place where she&#8217;d grown up, singing and praying and experiencing baptism by immersion.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if I can explain this,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I feel the ghosts of people worshiping. I still hear them singing.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s how strong her memories are, as the long-time church member helps organize a 120th anniversary celebration with a dinner at 6 p.m. Oct. 19 and a worship service at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 20.</p><p>The congregation isn&#8217;t as large as it was decades ago, when singers filled two choir lofts &#8212; one at the front and one at the back of the sanctuary &#8212; and a thousand people would attend Sunday services at the church on Kingston&#8217;s South Goodwin Avenue.</p><p>But Mackiewicz and fellow organizers Judi Nunemacher and Sandy Holleran are hoping friends and former members will swell the ranks and join the celebration that weekend.</p><p>As Mackiewz and Nunemacher looked over vintage photographs and news clippings, they reminisced about the good times of the past &#8212; from a &#8220;Tom Thumb Wedding&#8221; that gave tiny children of the 1950s a chance to dress in formal wear, to Christmas caroling and the adventures of Vacation Bible School, during which teenagers would dress in costumes and act out Bible stories for the younger children.</p><p>&#8220;We used a box a refrigerator had come in,&#8221; Mackiewicz said, recalling how fake bricks and fake fire turned that box into the fiery furnace into which Babylon&#8217;s King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered three young men to be thrown.</p><p>The Old Testament identifies the young men, who had angered the king by refusing to bow down to a false god, as Shadrach, Meschah and Abednego, but Nunemacher recalled that one young scholar at Vacation Bible School referred to them as &#8220;sheets and blankets and to bed you go.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Just about everyone in the neighborhood belonged to Westmoor Church of Christ, unless they belonged to St. Ignatius,&#8221; Nunemacher recalled. &#8220;It was close and convenient back when most mothers didn&#8217;t drive.&#8221;</p><p>Babies often went through a dedication ceremony, Nunemacher said, but the church waited until people were older to baptize them, by immersion in a baptistry.</p><p>&#8220;The minister wore high boots, and the person being baptized wore a white robe,&#8221; Mackiewicz said, recalling she and her mother were baptized when she was 9, along with two of her girlfriends and their mothers. &#8220;It was a Wednesday evening.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Mine was on Easter,&#8221; Nunemacher said.</p><p>As the grown-ups shared their memories, Nunemacher&#8217;s granddaughter Reagan Mazza, 3, peeked into the baptistry, which appeared deep enough to hold at least 3 feet of water and was decorated with a painting of the River Jordan.</p><p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re older,&#8221; Nunemacher told her granddaughter, explaining most people who are baptized into the church would be at least 12.</p><p>While the congregation is small, members strive to support causes in which they believe, Mackiewicz said, listing missions, the Salvation Army, a food pantry and radio station WRGN as beneficiaries of their fund-raisers.</p><p>&#8220;We were always known for our Welsh cookies and pasties,&#8221; she added.</p><p>The anniversary dinner will be held at the church on South Goodwin Avenue on Oct. 19, and the donation is $15. Everyone is welcome to the 10:30 a.m. worship service on Oct. 20. For more information or reservations, call the church at 570-287-6584 or call Nunemacher at 570-430-4458.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Three-year-old Reagan Mazza peers into the pool in the baptisty at the Westmoor Church, where her grandmother Judi Nunemacher was baptized by immersion as a youth. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor4-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Three-year-old Reagan Mazza peers into the pool in the baptisty at the Westmoor Church, where her grandmother Judi Nunemacher was baptized by immersion as a youth. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_anniversary-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Members of the Westmoor Church of Christ are looking forward to the church&#8217;s 120th anniversary of its founding. During an anniversary service set for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 20 they expect to sing such songs as &#8216;In the Garden&#8217; and &#8216;Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_anniversary-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Members of the Westmoor Church of Christ are looking forward to the church&#8217;s 120th anniversary of its founding. During an anniversary service set for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 20 they expect to sing such songs as &#8216;In the Garden&#8217; and &#8216;Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Irene O&#8217;Rourke Mackiewicz arranges historic photos and news clippings for the Westmoor Church of Christ&#8217;s 120th anniversary celebration, which will take place Oct. 19-20. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor1-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Irene O&#8217;Rourke Mackiewicz arranges historic photos and news clippings for the Westmoor Church of Christ&#8217;s 120th anniversary celebration, which will take place Oct. 19-20. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Irene O&#8217;Rourke Mackiewicz share memories of growing up as members of the Westmoor Church of Christ in Kingston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor3-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Irene O&#8217;Rourke Mackiewicz share memories of growing up as members of the Westmoor Church of Christ in Kingston. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A photo from the 1950s shows a &#8216;Tom Thumb wedding,&#8217; which gave small children a reason to dress up as if they were miniature members of a wedding party. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor5-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>A photo from the 1950s shows a &#8216;Tom Thumb wedding,&#8217; which gave small children a reason to dress up as if they were miniature members of a wedding party. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Richard Mackiewicz Sr. looks through his wedding album from 1971 when he was married at the Westmoor Church in Kingston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092519westmoor2-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Richard Mackiewicz Sr. looks through his wedding album from 1971 when he was married at the Westmoor Church in Kingston. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Westmoor Church of Christ celebrates 120 years