Original Wyano church gets new lease on next 100 years of life
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Parishioners filed into a Wyano church April 28, not knowing if they would ever again step foot in the 100-year-old house of worship.
The former United Methodist Church, located in the South Huntingdon Township, was about to shut its doors for good due to declining attendance. By the end, only six members remained. Wyano has a population of about 500 people, according the the U.S. Census.
But now, with the efforts of Sherry Kohuth and members of the Wyano community, the church is preparing to open for the first service since April as the Wyano “Coal Patch Town” Fellowship Church, a non-denominational, Christ-based entity.
“I’ve always felt that church was the cornerstone of this little town,” Kohuth said, who headed the restoration project.
Kohuth was working at the post office when she heard about the church closing. While she was not a member, her desire to save the church stemmed from two community members — Henry Baker and his mother, Elizabeth Baker — who live in the parsonage.
According to Kohuth, the Bakers were given 30 days notice to vacate their home after United Methodist permanently shut its doors.
“(Elizabeth Baker) tells the story and she says, ‘Most people, they’re married in the church, but I married the church. This is where I belong, and God has always blessed us to always hold true to our faith.’ But there was a point in her life … she was going to be displaced.”
With the voice of her late grandfather Orran Kelley, a church member and former coal worker, in the back of her head, Kohuth, a fifth-generation Wyano resident, set to work, knowing she would have to step up to save the church.
“My grandfather was one of the elders of the church,” Kohuth said. “If my pap was still alive he’d be like, ‘Hey girl, you use those brains and figure this out.’”
From the ground up
Kohuth, who had to work with officials from the United Methodist Church, said, “This is my town. There’s not going to be squatters in there, nobody’s going to be selling drugs in the parking lot. … So I sent (the United Methodist Church) a proposal and I let them know I did all my homework.”
After that, she said officials from the church were easy to work. “They just helped us. They truly helped us, just because they thought our intentions were along the lines of what they would wish.”
Starting a non-profit organization, also called Wyano CPT Fellowship Church, Kohuth was able to easily transfer the deed for the property into the organization’s ownership. According to Kohuth, the church was originally owned by the coal mining company that built the town, and that the deed was still under their name while the United Methodist Church maintained the property.
It’s taken Kohuth almost four months to get the church up and running.
Looking back, she knows she could not have been able to do it without the help of community members who donated their time and supplies toward fixing up the building.
“It takes an army,” she said. “It takes one person to step forward, but then it takes an army.”
Finally taking a step inside the church that was run by the six members, with the help of Henry Baker, Kohuth said the building was in pristine condition.
“If you walk in there, it’s amazing because that little congregation of six people that are all elderly” maintained it, Kohuth said. “I walked in there … and the wood on the pews is shiny like someone just oiled them and the carpet was spotless.”
But the one thing that does need replaced, she said, is the roof.
On Saturday, church members are hosting a yard sale to help raise funds for the roof. The event starts at 7 a.m.
In all, Kohuth said they will need between $40,000 and $50,000. She also plans on hosting future events to raise money.
After the roof is fixed, Kohuth already has her sights set on the stained glass windows. Right now, the outside of the windows are covered in plexiglass to protect them, but dulling the colors. But on the inside, she said, the windows are full of color.
By the end, Kohuth said her goal is to have the windows shining, the doors open and music pouring out.
A church full of history
When the church was built, mining companies also built homes and community buildings that would be used by workers. The First Street church originally began as the Wyano United Brethren under the Allegheny Conference in 1915, Kohuth said. The church, itself, was not built until 1919.
Today, the church is full of photos from over the years. Kohuth’s favorite picture shows two workers building the church’s frame. Wood beams stick out as the workers start laying the brick that now covers the building.
As members of the community peruse the church, Kohuth said, “They’re looking at this picture and pointing out people in their Sunday best” from years ago.
“When you have actual people that have grown up here and were born here and they’re excited to tell you their story, there’s no better living history than right here.”
She added, “It’s almost like it’s united this pride within (the community) that says, ‘That’s right — this is my home.’”
The first church service held under the name Wyano “Coal Patch Town” Fellowship Church will start Sunday at 6 p.m. Kohuth said she chose that time so people who attend other churches have the opportunity to stop in.
“It’s the first service of the next 100 years,” she said. “We’re really excited.”