Rising again

The whir of a generator breaks the spring-time silence in remote Cape Girardeau County.

A handful of men, clad in boots and tool belts, work on a life-size Lincoln Logs project near Goose Creek.

A metal sign hanging from a nearby storage shed proclaims: "Old Bethel shall rise again."

From left, Edward Proffer, Lyle Jones and Melvin Gateley worked on reconstructing the Old Bethel Church on its original remote lot in Jackson.

And so it shall, thanks to the efforts of volunteers, the Missouri Baptist Convention and one thrifty farmer who recycled logs from the original early-1800s church to make a barn.

Construction has started on the restoration project, which began when the Missouri Baptist Convention purchased the logs from a developer who tore down the barn they were used to build nearly 200 years ago.

Church history

At its founding in 1806, Bethel Church was the first non-Catholic religious group meeting west of the Mississippi River. At the time, there were likely only 50 Baptists west of the river and less than 200,000 in the entire United States. The church also was the site of court hearings in the county from 1814 to 1815.

The congregation of the original church eventually went on to found nine other Baptist churches from Fredericktown to parts of Wayne and Bollinger counties nearly 200 years ago. By 1861, the church moved its meetings to another site more convenient for its membership and then eventually abandoned the building. The land the church building stood on, along with a nearby cemetery, was sold. The logs used to build the original church went to a local farmer who used them to build a barn.

Steve Strom, right, instructed Lyle Jones on the reconstruction of the Old Bethel Church. Both are helping build the church replica.

The reconstruction

Plans to reconstruct the original church surfaced after the Missouri Baptist Convention purchased the logs used in the original construction. The cemetery, which contained several unmarked graves, was restored first.

Now, work has started on the church building, beginning with a 30-by-24-foot concrete foundation.

Steve Strom, a retired lawyer, has been designated head carpenter, a title he wears with a grin. Strom worked on the Red House replica in downtown Cape Girardeau and built a log cabin at his own home -- the only prerequisites he has for this job.

"I always like to build things, and this really isn't that difficult," he said.

Despite the concrete foundation, which was needed to prevent the 200-year-old logs from rotting, much of the construction is authentic. For example, the crew isn't using nails.

Instead, Ken Moxey, a retired psychology professor who lives in Cape Girardeau, carves down chunks of hard wood into pegs, which hold the logs together.

It takes about 15 minutes to make one peg, and Moxey has been charged with making 500 for Old Bethel. He too was involved with the Red House project, which is how he became involved with the church reconstruction.

The church is being built using a technique that has Scandanavian roots, according to Strom.

"This will be the strongest building in Cape Girardeau County," said Strom. "If a tornado came through, there are no nails to shake loose."

Future plans

The volunteers plan to have the project complete by late September, in time for a celebration to coincide with the Missouri Baptist Convention's annual conference and Old Bethel's 200th anniversary.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime for the Missouri Baptists," said Melvin Gately, who serves on the convention's historical commission. "I'm just tickled to death we're doing it with these volunteers. The idea of friendship and camaraderie is great."

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128