Why

A Brief History of the Belmont Buddhist Community

In a way, the Belmont Buddhist Community rose from the ashes of the Mountain Laurel Buddhist Group, which met at the Ohio Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bellaire, Ohio during 2003-2005. That group, which consisted mostly of members of the Congregation, petered out primarily due illness and relocation among several key participants.

The primary facilitators of the BBC came up with the idea for starting a new kind of group in the fall of 2010, during an all-day sit at Stillpoint, a comparable lay-led Buddhist community in Pittsburgh. The original notion was to organize a "Stillpoint West," as sort of branch or sister organization of the Pittsburgh group.

After many fruitless weeks of searching for an appropriate and affordable home, the original Lundy House location became available as a perfect starter site. The first organizational meeting was held on Feb. 24, 2011.

We met in that location though the spring, but then had to give up the lease. After a hiatus while options for affordable meeting space were explored, a space was created in a member's home. The Community re-organized in September of 2012.