SAVANNAH, Ga. — Worship returned Sunday to the sanctuary of Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in downtown Savannah, ending a 15-month exile that began when part of the ceiling crashed down in July of last year.
The church says a section of the sanctuary ceiling broke loose on the evening of Monday, July 21, and nobody was inside at the time. Church leaders blamed the failure on age and on heavy materials used in ceiling repairs during the congregation’s early years.
Rather than patch the damaged piece, the church removed the entire ceiling and rebuilt it with lighter, safer materials meant to last for centuries. West Construction Company handled the work. The finished ceiling cost about $2 million.
While crews worked, the Methodist congregation, which has spent more than 150 years on Taylor Square, held its services at Congregation Mickve Israel. SCAD also opened the Lucas Theater to the church for Easter, and people who do not attend the church gave money toward the repairs.
Senior Pastor Ben Martin preached on the meaning of home at the first service back, and the full choir and orchestra returned with the congregation. The church scheduled two identical services, at 8:45 and 11 a.m., for the first Sunday in the restored room and opened the sanctuary for prayer and viewing the Wednesday before.
Wesley Monumental is one of the flagship congregations of the historic downtown district, and its Taylor Square sanctuary is back in regular use for Sunday worship.
For members, the reopening closes a long stretch of borrowed space. The church spent more than a year as a guest of Congregation Mickve Israel, and the pastor credited both members and people outside the church for helping pay for the restoration.
Filed under: Savannah GA Neighborhood News
