The current Sligo Church building was constructed under the duress of World War II. The first service was held on the last Sabbath of 1944.

But Sligo was a church before it was a building. It became a church because of people and events of more than a century ago.

For in a very real way Sligo's history is bound up with two fires in Michigan that catapulted a young denomination into crisis. At the same time its history cannot be separated from the story of a small town in Maryland, a forested town that in those days was linked to the nation's capital only by the B & O Railroad, an electric streetcar, and seven or eight miles of roads rutted by horse carriages.

1902-1907 Pre-Sligo Story

I. The Smoke in Battle Creek

II. Resort Villa on the Sligo

III. What Ellen White Remembered

IV. Gilbert's Town

V. The New Land

February 18, 1902 - Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan burned to the ground
December 30, 1902 - Review and Herald Publishing House in Michigan was demolished by fire
1903 - Takoma Park picked for relocation of Review & Herald Publishing House
1903 - Property purchased for a college and sanitarium
July 27, 1904 - Washington Training College was incorporated

1907-1940 The Church Without a Permanent Home

VI. Church in Search of a Home

VII. Side by Side

October 12, 1907 the Seminary and Sanitarium Church (later renamed Sligo Church) was organized with a membership of 54
1907 - the church met in the Sanitarium gymnasium
1908 - the church met in College Hall (currently CUC Science building)
1914 - college name changed to Washington Missionary College
1914 - church name was changed to Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church; membership had grown to 185
1917 - Normal Department (Education Dept) added to college curriculum for teacher training
1918 - forerunner of Sligo Elementary School opened in College Hall
February 20, 1919 Columbia Hall dedicated - church began meeting in the chapel
1930 - H. L. Shoup became Sligo's first full-time pastor
August 1938 - groundbreaking for Normal Hall (elementary school) on Flower Avenue
1939 - Sligo Elementary School moved into the building that is now called Richards Hall

1941-1946 The Church Finds a Permanent Home

VIII. Arise and Build

1941 - Sligo membership had grown to 1,293
January 10, 1941 - Plans for a college church were laid out
1941 - The Stuart home on the site for the church was moved across Greenwood Ave. to later become the Columbia Union Conference Offices and finally the Sligo Church Offices
1941-1944 World War II slowed the building program due to shortages of labor and materials as well as war-time priorities and permits
March 2, 1942 - excavation for the new church at the corner of Flower and Carroll Avenues began
December 30, 1944 - First service held in new Sligo Church building (at its current site)
June 1, 1946 - Church Dedication
June 5, 1946 - General Conference session held at Sligo Church

1947-1959 The Church Grows

IX. Some Things Old, Some Things New

X. Growing Big, Better

1949 - Aisle carpeting installed
1949 - Review and Herald Publishing Association held its centennial celebration at Sligo
1952 - Autumn Council and Bible Conference met in Sligo Church
1952 - Takoma Academy moved out of the basement of Columbia Hall into a new plant on Carroll Ave.
1953 - Installation of Mohler pipe organ replacing an electric organ
1957 - WGTS began to broadcast in FM
1959 - Sligo Missionary Volunteer Society launched a student missionary program and sent its first Student Missionary, Marlin Matthiesen, to Mexico
1950's - Sanitarium addition was built; major additions to General Conference and Review and Herald were completed
Late 1950's - Sligo School had outgrown its facilities and moved the 7th and 8th grades to Takoma Academy

1960-1969 Unique Evangelism

XI. The Gospel to the City

1961 - Sligo membership had grown to 2,400
1961 - Plans laid for a new elementary school complex, now to be part of Sligo Church and no longer under the administration of the college
1961 - Washington Missionary College changed its name to Columbia Union College
1961 - construction began on Morrison Hall (men's dormitory)
1962 - Fun with Food vegetarian cooking classes taught by Pastor "Chef" Loveless
1963 (Spring) - Groundbreaking for Sligo Elementary School
1964 - Sligo School moved to new building on Carroll Ave -- built for 320 students and opened with 350 students - grades 1-8
1965 - Winton Beaven and William Loveless produce local TV program: "Concept"
1966 - Sligo membership passed the 3,000 mark
1966 - Christian Urban Service Corps began with 15 students teamed up with 15 ghetto children on Sabbath afternoons and together began to learn and to love.
1966 - Sligo-by-the-Sea began with cooperation of both Potomac and Chesapeake Conferences
1966-1968 - Church paper, the Sligo Scene was published
1967 - Memorial Chapel remodeled and dedicated on January 13, 1968
1967 - Groundbreaking for Takoma Academy's new addition
1968-1969 - more than 150 college and academy students operated five tutoring programs in the inner city of Washington, D.C.
1969 - The Gate - establish a coffee house in Georgetown as an outreach ministry
1960's - Christmas Candlelight Concerts began; 20-40 Club began

1970-1974 More New Ideas

XII. Open the Doors to Sligo

Sligo School - a History

1970 - Kindergarten class added to Sligo School
1971 - Two portable classroom units were added to Sligo School to handle the growing enrollment
1971-1972 - health clinic added to The Gate with a full-time coordinator
1971 - Church paper was revived under the name Sligoscope
1971 - Sligo-in-the-Woods recreation property in Pennsylvania was purchased
1971 - First Festival of Praise
1972 - First major renovation of the sanctuary to make a place for more organ pipes, walnut woodwork on the platform, wide curving steps to the platform, new paint, new lighting, carpeting throughout the sanctuary
1973 - Sligo Adventist School addition was completed - library, 4 classrooms, music and art rooms, pathfinder room
1973 - "Layman of the Line" series coordinated by Ernest Plata put 5 lay persons in the pulpit for eight meetings
1973 - Sligo Sacred Concert Series began
1973 - First Woman Pastor, Josephine Benton joins the pastoral staff
1974 - The Brotherhood Church was organized as a direct result of a Sligo Adult Education class on Black History
1974 - The Gate property was sold
1974 - First Pictorial Directory was published
1974 - Sligo bought a row-house on 12th Place for a live-in Christian ministry
1974 - Adventist Heritage Series - meeting reviewing various aspects of Adventist beginnings
1970's - pastoral staff organized into a "flock system" giving each associate pastor a particular group to care for and make his or her own; Sligo School's enrollment soared to 495; Tutoring inner-city children continued; Adult Education Classes offered

MORE...page 2 (years 1975 +)