The Moreland Church of God open house slated for Sunday, Dec. 16
The public is invited to attend an open house event for the Moreland Church of God restoration project on Sunday, Dec. 16 from 2-5 p.m.
The idea is to have the sanctuary restored and decorated to assimilate what the church would have looked like circa the late 1800s.
The Moreland Community Historical Society recently undertook a project in renovating the Moreland Church of God building located right along state Route 83, and now the organization is ready to showcase the renovated church to the public.
While it won’t be completely finished on the inside, it will be far enough along that visitors will get a sense of what the building once looked like in its heyday.
“I’d be willing to say nine out of 10 people who drove by never knew it was a church building,” MCHS board member Gail Miller said. “But a few of us here in Moreland knew, and it actually had this beautiful fresco artwork done by local artist Charles Gasche in the 1880s. It’s fantastic, and we knew what was in this church building from a historical standpoint. Recognizing that artwork and its historical meaning is one of the reasons we wanted to save this building.”
While the outside of the church building has been renovated and the steeple has been put in place, the inside is still under construction, and a large part of that is the renovation of the artwork inside the main sanctuary. Gasche’s art has been almost totally destroyed by decay, although the large center painting on the ceiling has been saved and restored.
“This free open house is a matter of giving folks an opportunity to see this amazing transformation and to stir up some additional interest in the project,” Miller said. “We want to emphasize not just what Rusty has accomplished, but what Charles Gasche created more than a century ago.”
While the historical society helped restore the outside of the church building, the rest of the painting restoration process on the inside rests in the brush of local artist Claude Rustin Baker.
Baker has been working to finish the front of the church and the decorative painting around the top of the walls.
“I came up and looked at this building, and challenge was the first thing that hit me,” Baker said of the project. “I don’t like easy work. I love the challenge, and this one was really intriguing because of the challenge and the opportunity to restore something this special. This kind of thing is so gratifying, and it is a blessing in many ways that I am able to do this.”
Baker said wherever he goes and whatever opportunity arises for him to use his gift of painting, he makes that the most enjoyable experience, and he makes that experience the best part of his life.
Once he was contracted to do the restoration, Baker came in and measured everything and drew up a blueprint of how he wanted to attack the restoration.
Much of the work he has done to date includes all shades of black and white and the many grays in between, and he has created a 3-D look to the sanctuary’s décor.
Working with a photograph of the old church, Baker has turned the dull and faded walls into works of art that have brought the sanctuary to life. He also has been a good sounding board for the board, using his expertise and experience with mural work to provide advice on what would look good and add to the church’s appeal.
While some artists balk at the idea of restoration work, Baker embraces it. “I love what I do, and that is brightening up something that was once very meaningful but has faded away,” he said. “This has opened a lot of doors to me all over the world, and it is a stepping stone to preserving history.”
Miller said teaming up with Baker has been ideal, and they have enjoyed having him on hand to create and restore.
“For us it means a lot to have a local artist working on this project rather than someone far away,” Miller said. “Rusty is so passionate and such a fantastic artist, and we are thrilled being able to partner with him.”
Baker is planning on attending the open house event and will be on hand to chat with the public and answer questions. There will be refreshments, hot chocolate and coffee, and Miller said the hope is people will be able to catch the vision of what the MCHS is doing in restoring the church.
Parking is limited at the church itself, so there will be additional parking across state Route 83 at the Moreland Methodist Church, and they can shuttle people to the church, should they need help.