The rain came down in buckets on Thursday night, Nov. 16, but it didn’t dampen the festivities inside the Maplewood Country Club, where members of Congregation Beth Torah of Florham Park celebrated their synagogue’s 25th anniversary.

It was a celebration that included many members who had been there almost from the beginning, a reflection of the fact that Beth Torah is a relative newcomer to Morris County, which already had more than five synagogues when it was founded in 1981.

So while 25 is still considered a milestone, the synagogue is young enough that members consider it a work in progress and maintain that everyone who joins can help the synagogue evolve.

In fact, the congregation is searching for another benefactor so they can break ground on a new building to replace the small, somewhat rundown house they now occupy — while retaining its intimacy.

The evening’s honorees, Abbe and David Poznak, moved to Livingston from Florham Park two years ago but wouldn’t consider joining another congregation.

“I’m the least religious guy around,” said David, who is also president of Beth Torah. “My friends laugh when I say I’m the president of a shul, but this isn’t like going to temple. We are like a family, focusing on tradition and family values. Finding this synagogue is a whole different experience.”

Most of the people who join the synagogue, which has 55 family members, live in Florham Park. “I didn’t want to have to drive; I wanted a place where my kids could meet the other Jewish kids in town,” said Holly Fruchter, who has been a member for 20 years. She described Beth Torah as “a comfortable little place.”

Shirley Biarsky of Union, who has been around from nearly the beginning, calls herself “chief cook and bottle washer” and can often be found in the kitchen making sure events run smoothly.

Marlene Vegter, another longtime member, started the synagogue’s sisterhood. “We were going to ORT and Hadassah meetings in other towns. We felt it was important for people in Florham Park to have an anchor, a center. So we started sisterhood here,” she said.

For many, like Andrew Weisz, one of the most impressive parts of the community is the religious school. “It’s not just lessons. They cook latkes and bake bread. It’s a very holistic approach,” he said. Others commented that the kids actually like going to the Beth Torah religious school. “I wish I could have gone to this Hebrew school,” said Poznak. “I used to fake illnesses to not go to temple. But this place really is wonderful. And you should hear these kids speak Hebrew.”

Nearly everyone discusses the need for an outside benefactor who will help them build a modest, but more modern and appealing building. Weisz, who has worked extensively with an architect on the plans, said he hopes construction of the facility will help the community double in size, to 100 or 125 member families. But the estimated cost of $2 million is more than they can afford. So far, members have raised $500,000.

Remembering the congregation’s genesis, Biarsky recalled how several families from Ahavath Achim B’nai Israel in Irvington started a suburban religious school as a branch of AABC, as that congregation was known.

The suburban school group had all the privileges of membership at AABC while they began building their own community in Florham Park. They held services and meetings around the area — at the Florham Park Country Club and at the East Hanover Municipal Building. Eventually, the Irvington synagogue community merged with Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn and no longer needed a suburban branch.

The group that had formed continued independently, gaining a religious leader from the change — the former AABC cantor, Jack Korbman. (The community would go through five more leaders in its first 25 years, including Rabbi Danny Allen, now executive director of American Friends of Magen David Adom, and Rabbi Art Vernon, who preceded the current rabbi, David Saltzman.)

The congregation has remained formally independent, but identifies itself as Conservative.

One of its first big breaks came when Congregation Beth Torah in Orange merged with Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange and donated Torah scrolls, books, the ark, and other items to the fledgling Florham Park congregation.

By the mid-1980s, a property in Florham Park fell into the group’s lap when a carpet installer mentioned to a family he was working for that he had a property for sale. The community raised $25,000 and bought that property and eventually one next door. “Little by little we took the walls out and closed in the back porch to create a sanctuary,” Biarsky said. The upstairs holds the classrooms.

The synagogue is still a small community that meets only once a month, but for some residents, its role in promoting a welcoming climate for Jewish families in Florham Park is crucial.

Ten years ago, for example, local public schools began to close on the High Holy Days, and members credit the synagogue for encouraging the change. Members also point out that as they become more involved with both synagogue and community, serving as coaches on little league teams and in other civic roles, fellow residents root for them. The local newspaper has featured the synagogue on several occasions, and, according to Weisz, “everyone in town is pulling for us to get our building.”

Still the synagogue faces challenges beyond its new building, especially retaining members after their children become b’nei mitzva. But celebrants at the Maplewood Country Club focused on their accomplishments and on their vision for their little shul in the future. The joy of belonging to Beth Torah, said Biarsky, “is seeing this place grow.”