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‘Another door opens’: Historic church building donated to Contemporary American Theater Festival

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Jun 16, 2023

Christ Reformed United Church of Christ closed its doors at the beginning of this year. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — At the beginning of this year, Christ Reformed United Church of Christ announced its doors would be officially closing, in conjunction with the retirement of its pastor on Jan. 15.

After some deliberation, the church’s congregation decided to give its building at 304 East German Street German Street to the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF).

“Members of the Christ Reformed Church are very sad that we had to make the decision to close, after being a part of the Shepherdstown community for 275 years,” said longtime church member Dennis Barron, mentioning that the congregation is thankful, however, that CATF is going to “keep and maintain the church as a very viable part of the community, in a different, but positive way.”

According to CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen, the decision to accept the gift was made easier, by the fact that CATF and the church’s congregation shared similar values, particularly supportive of the LGBTQ community..

“The congregation was devoted to equity and social justice. At CATF, we are also dedicated to those values and are committed to creating spaces where members of under-represented communities are welcome to be themselves and create all forms of art,” McKowen said.

This summer, CATF will use the church building as a rehearsal space for “The Overview Effect” by Lynn Rosen, one of the Festival’s five world premiere plays being produced in the upcoming July season. Following the ending of the season, the church will begin undergoing renovations to turn it into a full performance venue, while making sure to maintain the historic integrity of the building. But, after those renovations are completed, the building will be put to regular use, according to CATF Managing Director Jeff Griffin.

“In the fall, we will return with the Fall Reading Series, during which we will be reading some plays that, probably one or two of, will be performed in the 2024 or 2025 summer festival seasons. We’re going to continue to develop that series,” Griffin said, of the series founded in fall 2022. “We have a new play that we’re working on with a puppet group out in Los Angeles — we might do a workshop of that in the fall.

“Where are we going to do all of this?” Griffin asked. “Christ Reformed United Church of Christ has dissolved, and we have been given that church building. So, we are going to change that into a new performance space, where we can do more work, like develop new work, do more readings and perhaps a holiday show or two, invite some music groups to perform that are in town — it’s going to be a community center and an arts center. It will be a place for us to do work, but also a place where we are looking to do all of the arts that are in town.”

While CATF expands its facilities, the professional nonprofit theater will also maintain its close partnership with Shepherd University.

“For over 30 years, CATF has been fortunate to call Shepherd University our home. Our mutual commitment to the success of both CATF and Shepherd University is ongoing and unwavering,” said CATF Board President Marellen Aherne. “To that end, we are so grateful to the Christ Reformed United Church of Christ’s congregation for the gift of their historic and beautiful church to CATF.”

To learn more about CATF or get tickets to its upcoming season, which will run from July 7-30, visit catf.org or call 681-240-2283.