A local church is getting ready for a new and long-awaited addition to come to realization.
Ray Hoffman, of Christ Lutheran Church’s property committee, recently noticed that the church steeple was in trouble. Pieces of it were falling off onto the property. Where a cross as once mounted, there is now only a rod.
“It’s in bad shape,” said Hoffman. “In the early spring, I found a couple of pieces here and there.” That’s when he decided to take action to get it fixed.
While the exact date for the repair was yet to be determined last week, Hoffman says he expects it to happen within a week or so.
“The base of it was okay, from what I understand. They’re just going to fabricate and put a cross up,” said Hoffman. “It’s been a time coming.”
The church expects to be able to cover the costs following a small fundraising effort.
Hoffman has been following the tower work being done in Pottstown at First Baptist Church which has closed the intersection of King and North Charlotte streets for an extended period of time. Christ Lutheran’s steeple repair won’t be quite as extensive.
“I’ve kind of been looking at that – their circumstances, they have a lot of heavy stone work. We don’t have that. That makes our job a lot easier than what they’re doing.”
Melissa Seasholtz, church secretary, says that she heard that the steeple is the highest point in Barto – which may very well be true. The church is located in the village of Niantic at Niantic and Congo-Niantic Roads, less than one mile off of Route 100.
Hoffman wasn’t sure how many steeples replacements the church has been through. Its current building was built in 1872; the church was founded in 1836.
