Dale County AlArchives News.....Scale Model Church Higlight ( Sylvan Grove) 1984
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Christine Thacker http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100 April 25, 2004, 12:55 pm

Southern Star
Scale Model Church Highlights

Sylvan Grove Homecoming Oct. 29 "Do you remember when..." Words often spoken at 
reunions and homecomings. The center of these comments at the October 29 
Homecoming at Sylvan Grove United Methodist Church was sure to be the scale 
model of the old church building constructed by Paul Kennedy in the 
Cabinetmaking class at Wallace College.
       FAMILY TRADITION
A trustee, choir singer and fourth generation member of the Sylvan Grove 
Church, Mr. Kennedy enrolled in the Wallace College Cabinetmaking Shop on
his retirement from the Army. Last year he has honored as the outstanding 
student in the class. When plans were being made for the homecoming event which 
would mark the church's 128th anniversary and the bicentennial of Methodism in 
the United States, he agreed to build a replica of the old church building- .
"I got carried away," he admits now, after spending some 280 hours on the 
construction. His wife contributed another 100 hours, working on the interior 
furnishings and the dolls representing the congregation.The Sylvan Grove Church 
is the oldest Christian place of worship in Dale County. A bush arbor and then 
a small log cabin which was also used as a school building-then called Zoar-
stood on the spot before the church was built in 1858. That was the year the 
Sylvan Grove Methodist Circuit was established.
  The old church building was torn down in 1948 to make way for a more modern 
structure. Growing up within a mile of the church which is a few miles east of 
Midland city, Kennedy joined the church when he was 10 years old. His parents, 
grand-parents, and great-grandparents all had belonged to that church.
  No wonder he got "carried away" when asked to build a replica of the beloved 
old building! Working from faded photographs and his own excellent memory, he 
has built a model on the scale of one-inch to one-foot. The detailing is 
incredible, right down to the bell in the steeple and the Bible on the pulpit 
inside. There are even 24 hand-carved pews to be seen when the roof is lifted 
off.
  After being on display during the Sylvan Grove Homecoming service, Mr. 
Kennedy hopes it will find a permanent home in the Methodist Archives.
  Despite all his labor, the money he has put into the project is a modest $94. 
Much of the material came from scraps. Everyone in the Cabinetmaking Shop saved 
all their scraps of pine lumber for him and he also got the shingles left from 
the construction of the college's  prize-winning booth at the National Peanut 
Festival.
  With skill and time and lots of devotion, you can still do great
things with a little money. Paul Kennedy's replica of the Sylvan
Grove United Methodist Church is proof of that.

From The newspaper file of H.S.


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