Hickory – Exodus Homes, a faith based United Way agency providing supportive housing for homeless recovering people was selected in July to receive funding from Lowe’s Home Improvement in their “100 Hometowns” program to completely renovate the kitchen and two story fellowship hall of Exodus Missionary Outreach Church in Hickory.. The project is now complete and the public is invited to tour the new fellowship hall on November 14, 2021 at 4:00pm. The renovation includes new flooring throughout the building, a new commercial freezer, oven, and toaster, air conditioning, a new hot and cold steam table, two handicapped accessible bathrooms, other handicap accessible features, expanded dining area, improved audio visual capability, and a mural by LA artist James Smith celebrating the 25th year of the Exodus Ministry. The entire project has been coordinated by Tommy Luckadoo, a member of Corinth Church. Mayor Hank Guess will be on hand with remarks on behalf of the City of Hickory, the new name will be unveiled along with a ribbon cutting to celebrate the new and approved program location for Exodus Homes which uses the building frequently for meetings, dinners, workshops and other recovery related activities.
That day they will also be celebrating their entry into the United Church of Christ denomination, www.ucc.org, a change which has been in the works for several years. Exodus Missionary Outreach Church was founded in 1997 as a nontraditional, nondenominational church. Over the years the Rev. Reggie Longcrier and the Rev. Susan Smith learned about the United Church of Christ’s focus on racial justice, social justice, environmental justice and full equality for all people in Christ and felt it was a good fit for the church. This move into the UCC is a good one to ensure the future of the church in years to come. Dr. Edward Davis, Conference Minister of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ will share a few remarks and a new sign with their new name will be unveiled during the event,
The short program will occur outside where light refreshments will be served as well. The public is encouraged to attend. For more information, please contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 or [email protected].
