Group works to restore historically significant church

The Columbus Dispatch

ATHENS

Though there’s mold growing on the walls, peeling paint on the ceiling and cobwebs dusting the pews, the Mount Zion Baptist Church has what some call a “special feel.”

It’s inexplicable, but it might have something to do with the beautiful stained-glass windows, the rounded pews and the sumptuous oak doors. Or, it could be the history lingering in all of those physical attributes.

“There’s just a feel to it that is very special,” said Ron Luce, standing in the sanctuary and looking up to the tin ceiling, water damage causing the white paint to peel and fall on the pews below.

Luce is treasurer of the Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society, formed about four years ago in hopes of preserving the Athens building the congregation used for years.

The size and activity of the church’s congregation fluctuated over the years, though many remember the popular Gospel Voices of Faith choir that it once formed. The last church activity hosted in the building is believed to have been a funeral in 2004 or 2005, said Ada Woodson Adams, secretary of the society.

The society was awarded the deed to the church, at 32 W. Carpenter St. in Athens, a little over a week ago after a yearslong battle to get control of it. During those years, the building was largely abandoned and the more than 100-year-old structure deteriorated.

“This church is a piece of the history of America, of Athens County, of Athens, and I think it tells the story of a people, of a place, of a time,” Adams said.