St. Joseph's on-the-Mountain Episcopal Church is in Mentone, Ala.TO HELPAnyone who would like to help can send checks to:St. Joseph's on-the-MountainAttn: Church Renewal FundP.O. Box 161Mentone, AL 35984For more information call 256-634-4476.
St. Joseph's on-the-Mountain Episcopal Church is trying to raise $200,000 for repairs.It's not noon in Mentone, Ala., until the church bells ring.
Those bells belong to a log-cabin church -- St. Joseph's on-the-Mountain Episcopal Church -- constructed of weathered wood on a foundation of stone. It has stood in the heart of this small town since 1880.
Since 1970, a congregation of Episcopalians has met in the historic log cabin. Its meager congregation, which has matured to 35 active members over the years, has fostered and expanded the historic cabin through the decades with sweat and a prayer.
In 1974 the church outgrew the cabin's single room and added a sanctuary to the existing structure. The sanctuary was built from local wood the congregation collected from old barns so that it would match the original cabin.
Now, the church's wood cladding needs to be replaced. The stone foundation needs to be shored up. The ceiling has leaked for years, and the electrical work is old.
Repairs to the church are expected to cost $200,000.
"This church is what we have been placed stewards over," said Joan Byrum, a church member with silver hair and a wide smile. "Everything in the church was built by us or was a gift -- the windows, the pews, the beams -- it was all given to us."
Inside the sanctuary, the wooden walls are painted white, with deep-red trim on the walls and ceiling beams. The leaks in the ceiling are not prominently visible, but portions of the maroon-carpeted floor are squishy from water damage.
A narrow aisle separates six or seven rows of pews, which are said to have been stained by George Washington Carver, the scientist and inventor best known for finding more than 100 uses for the common peanut.
Simple gold chandeliers with dim bulbs hang from the ceiling and all of the seven stained-glass windows in the sanctuary were hand-painted -- one a gift to the church from France.
Ron Merrell, chairman of the building renewal committee, said the church is not planning on making cosmetic changes, just the "safe-and-sound stuff ... the stuff that lets our church still be around for the next generation."
Walter Fowlkes has been a member of the church for years and is chairman of the capital fund.
"Our geriatric congregation has done most of the work on the church over the years, and that is why it needs to be fixed," Fowlkes said with a smile.
The church's annual budget is self-sustaining, and the building is owned by the Diocese, which is able to offer limited funds to aid in repair costs -- but more money is needed.
St. Joseph's on-the-Mountain Episcopal Church is trying to raise $200,000 for repairs."We are not wanting to renew the church just for our congregation," Byrum said. "Our church is for the community."
The church's doors are never locked. It is common for people to open the door at all hours of the day and night to tour the historic cabin or kneel in prayer in the sanctuary.
Many in the mountain community are involved in the church's food bank, which gives out more than 30 boxes of food to families every Tuesday. A small green shopping cart is always outside the church with cans of soup and boxes of pasta available for anyone who is hungry.
Byrum said the church has never considered closing its doors, and that the entire congregation has been encouraged by local support and the checks received in the mail from across the state.
"We are just going to trust, and keep checking things off our prioritized list of repairs as money comes," she said. "We are a small congregation doing the best we can, and we just need a little help to renew the building."
Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.