Church looks to build anew

Saturday, March 3, 2012

THE FUTURE An architectural drawing shows what the inside of the new Salem United Methodist Church will look like once the building is completed. The old building was heavily damaged by a log truck April 25 and will be demolished Tuesday. The congregation has been attending services at another church in their charge. They are hoping the new building will be finished in September, in time for their annual fall festival (Photo submitted)

LUTHERSBURG - The Apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the Thessalonians, "Therefore among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecution and trials you are enduring." Thousands of years later, the same can be said for the Salem United Methodist Church in Luthersburg, which was severely damaged by a log truck April 25. According to previously published Courier-Express/Tri-County Sunday articles, the truck, driven by Clayton Null of Reynoldsville, lost control on a curve, left the road, entered the church's parking lot and flipped onto its drivers side. The logs on the truck broke loose and slammed into the side of the church. The damage to the building was so severe that the church will be demolished Tuesday morning. While the truck accident is the latest challenge the congregation has faced it is not the first. According to Barb Muth, chairwoman of the church's board of directors, the church was built in 1857 but later moved to its present location. The church was then rebuilt in 1943 after it had been destroyed by fire. However, this most recent challenge has been one of the toughest the church has faced. Muth, Sonya Fetterhoff, chairwoman of the fundraising committee, and David Radaker, one of the church trustees, said following the accident, the congregation wasn't sure exactly how to proceed. "We had two services (in the building) after the accident, but the church was closed May 15," Muth said. "The building kept shifting and the damage was getting worse." Radaker said the building was inspected by several engineers between April and September before a decision on how much damage was caused and how much it would cost to repair could be made. Radaker said it would be about $350,000 just to repair the building. Several other inspectors said they thought it would be less costly to demolish the building and build a new church on a different area of the property. The decision to move (the location of) the (new) building was made in order to protect the new building from future accidents. Muth, Fetterhoff and Radaker said the log truck incident was not the first traffic accident to occur at the property. They said not long ago, another vehicle struck a utility pole and fencing on the property. They said the mailboxes and fencing are struck by vehicles on a regular basis. Several years ago, they said, a garbage truck wrecked, spilling its entire load into the church's parking lot. The new church will be located on the opposite side of the parking lot, farther away from the road. Radaker said the congregation is hoping the new location will better protect the building from any future accidents. Although the damage to the church did not seem irreparable at first, the building is starting to twist on its foundations. Cracks that were not there at the time of the original accident began to appear and are getting wider. "Even if we were able to rebuild, the engineers could not be sure that the building would not continue shifting and moving," Radaker said. "There is a lot of concern about the roof. If we would have had a hard winter, there's a good chance the roof may have collapsed." Fetterhoff said the congregation plans to hold a service at the church at 7 a.m. Tuesday before the building is demolished. She said the corner stone which was placed in the church's foundation after the fire will be removed and set in the foundation of the new church when it's constructed. "It was a tough decision," Fetterhoff said. "Some people really wanted to keep the old church because of sentimental reasons. A lot of the older members have been going there for a long time. They raised their children there, but they understand the problem with the building." Since the building had to be closed, the 60-80 members have been attending services at the Luthersburg United Methodist Church, another church in their charge. "They're looking forward to coming back home," Muth said. "It's been tough. We're a small congregation but we're looking at a huge project." Radaker said with the church's budget, none of the small, local banks would lend the church money for the rebuilding project. "We can't blame them," Radaker said. "I wouldn't lend us the money either based on our income. We've gotten donations and volunteers have offered to donate their time to help with the painting." Radaker, Fetterhoff and Muth said the church was able to get a loan through a credit union to help pay for the repairs. With the help of Hallstrom Construction, they are hoping to break ground on the new church in late March or early April, weather permitting. Fetterhoff said the church is hoping to have the construction completed in September, in time for its annual Fall Festival. Radaker said the trustees have removed the pews and all the furniture from the old church and it will be taken to the new church once it's built. The new building will be a single-story structure which will be fully handicapped accessible. "The old church was not handicapped accessible," Muth said. "It's something we wanted to do for the older members. The older generation is really what has held our church together after all this." She also said the church is working to raise as much money as possible and is applying for grants so the debt will be paid off as soon as possible." "We have had people ask us what kind of legacy we'll be leaving for future generations," Radaker said. "One thing we won't leave them is debt. We took out a 30-year mortgage so the payments will be lower, but we plan to pay as much as we can as soon as we can." The church is planning several fundraisers including: selling Christmas bulbs with a picture of the original church, a game of chance for a quilt that was made by a member of the church and a spaghetti dinner May 20 at the Luthersburg Community Building complete with "celebrity" waiters and waitresses. The church members will also be at the community booth at the DuBois Mall March 10 and April 14. "It's been a step on faith, but the community and other churches have really done a lot to help us," Fetterhoff said. For more information about fundraisers for the church, call Sonya Fetterhoff at (814) 503-8259. --- Reported by Kimberly Finnigan, Tri-County Sunday. Email: kfinnigan@thecourierexpress.com.

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Church looks to build anew