Neither storms, nor a pandemic, nor even a financial scam could stop the members of St. Paul Methodist Church from bringing their ancestors’ church back to life.
St. Paul, located at 660 Comer Road in Lexington, opened its doors to the public Sunday for the first time in five years.
Members and visitors alike gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and rededication service to pray and worship together, recognizing and celebrating the work that was done.
“God has brought us this far,” church member Tiffany Appling-Smith said. “And you always rededicate your home back to God.”
Appling-Smith was among the group determined to revive St. Paul, alongside family members and friends James Smith, Hollie Leahman, Pearlene Walter, Patsy Powers, Sammy and Elouise Clark, Ronald Johnson, Angela Carter, Yolanda Terrell and Pastor David Bell.
The group was inspired by their ancestors, who sustained the church for many years.
Appling-Smith’s grandmother, Mamie Lou Carter, and great-aunts, Rosa Freeman and Minnie Terrell, used to get up early before every service to clean the church.
Johnson’s uncle, Eddie Lee Nowell, served as a deacon at the church, and is remembered as “hard-working” and “humble.” Other deacons who “took great care of the church” include Lonnie Collins, Ernest Bell, George Bell, Virgus Stevens, Willie Clarke Raines and Ruben Raines.
“Because of those four people, it motivated me to go hard for St. Paul,” Appling-Smith said. “I know they wouldn’t like the condition that St. Paul had gotten in, not going to the church, closing the doors of the church.”
As this older generation died, the church struggled.
Attendance waned. A pandemic forced closure. Then came storm damage.
“We fought, we fought, we fought,” Appling-Smith said. “It was about eight of us that stood bold and made it happen. I couldn’t walk away. I just couldn’t do it.”
The church, needing renovation, continued to face obstacles, including a denied insurance claim and a $10,000 contractor scam.
But one day, at Strickland Ace Hardware in Crawford, Bell met Alvin and Andy Clark.
After hearing St. Paul’s story, the two brothers offered to help fix the church — even when the church members needed extra time to pay them for their work.
“They knew that we didn’t have any money,” Johnson said. “They just did it out of the goodness of their heart, for the church.”
Andy and Alvin were recognized during Sunday’s rededication service with a standing ovation.
“When I say that they was God-sent, they was God-sent,” Appling-Smith said to the congregation.
Before the service, Lexington Mayor Ronnie Boggs cut the ribbon alongside Sammy Clark, Bell and Pastor Perez Watson, marking the beginning of a new era for St. Paul.
“Our biggest goal is trying to get all the members back in our church,” said Sammy, who has attended St. Paul since he was a child.
The church has about 60 members total, many of whom have said they plan to return now that the doors are open.
After preaching a sermon on Nehemiah 4, Watson gave a charge to the congregation.
“May this church remain a testimony that storms can’t stop God,” Watson said. “Setbacks can’t stop God. May this dedication today be the beginning of even greater works.”
To honor their ancestors, St. Paul organized a program through which members can purchase a pew and the church will place name plaques on them.
“I know they are probably rejoicing in heaven to see that St. Paul is back open,” Appling-Smith said.
The rededication service ended with a prayer from Pastor Clarence Burgess. Going forward, St. Paul will hold services at 10:30 a.m. on the first and third Sunday of every month.
“I never forgot what I saw as a kid growing up,” Appling-Smith said. “As long as I got breath in my body, I can never let that church, the doors, close.”
