DIXFIELD – Fifty years ago, Muriel McAuley and Clarice Dunham were manning the cement mixer or smoothing out cement.

They, and dozens of other volunteers, as well as a general contractor, were building the Dixfield Plains Church of the Nazarene on Weld Street.

On Sunday, they and dozens of other church and community members will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the small church that has fed the souls of hundreds of people throughout the years.

On Nov. 23, 1958, 69 members of the church marched from the Dixfield Grange Hall, where services had been held, down Main Street, then up Weld Street to the church where the first service in the new building was held. The upstairs wasn’t completed, so the service was held in the basement.

“We were called the 69-ers,” said Clarice, 75, who said another 45 people joined in the service.

Within a year or so, the church was completed.

“This is a place where I’m spiritually grounded, a place where the people who come are my family. If you came to a service, you would see a lot of love in action,” Dunham said.

McAuley, 85, who lives Wilton and makes the trip to Dixfield each Sunday for the service, feels the same.

“Christian love is the theme song. The high standards; I’m grounded here and come even though I live in Wilton,” she said.

Both women are charter members of the church. Both have filled most of the offices in the church and Dunham, a retired elementary and special education teacher as well as a piano teacher, is the church organist.

M any past church members have gone on to become pastors or wives of pastors. The district superintendent, who supervises the more than 50 Nazarene churches in the state, is one of those – Cecil Jones, originally from Weld, and his wife, Beverly Lane Jones, originally from Dixfield, said Dunham.

Linda Powell, daughter of McAuley, now lives in Oklahoma. She will be at the celebration on Sunday as part of her annual month-long visit with her mother.

She grew up in the church and values all that she learned there.

“As a teenager, the church was a real part of my centeredness. I developed a relationship with Christ and used the principles learned at church during the week,” said the elementary school teacher who is an organizer of a faith-based nonprofit organization in Oklahoma City that offers day care, a free clinic, church services, a food pantry and thrift shop.

Fifty-one years ago, people decided they wanted another church in town. From there, plans crystallized to build the church on what was then the plains of Dixfield. The New England District of the Church of the Nazarene helped with some funding, while the rest was raised through pledges and donations.

The number of church members has decreased over the years, as it has with many other churches, but is beginning to rebound, said Dunham.

On Sunday, the Rev. John Heuring will help with the celebration that begins at 3 p.m. with a gospel concert by local singer Sammie Angel. That will be followed by food and fellowship and a chance to look over 50 years of history in scrapbooks and photographs.

“We’re hoping to get a lot of people who have been away to celebrate,” Dunham said.