Historic church moves from downtown Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS- A church in the heart of downtown Cedar Rapids will finally move after nearly 140 years.

The sweet sounds of music filled the sanctuary at the Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist in downtown Cedar Rapids one last time on Sunday before the  congregation moved to a new building on Gordon Avenue in the northwest part of town.

“The building has air conditioning which is a plus. It's a newer building and has much more capacity for what we want to do here,” said the Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist Rev. Tom Capo.

For the past 15 years, Patty Andrew has been going to the old church, but not just for service.

“The draw for me is the involvement of the social justice movement of this church,” said Andrew.

The landmark building is home to groups like Amnesty International. All of which have an open invitation to meet at the church's new location.

“We're actually thinking about putting together a room at the new building with all our historical documents so people can come and see it,” said Capo.

The old building originally caught the eye of the city council, at one point debating whether to turn the building into a parking lot for the new library.  But Capo says they sold the building to a private company.

Capo says all they can do now is prepare for the congregation's future.

“Acknowledge the grief and embrace the celebration,” said Capo.