Rockville Church Renovation

My name is Kally, and I love this church.I am from the tiny town of Rockville, Rhode Island. My parents have lived here for 40 years, and I grew up here, about a half mile from this church. I heard the bell ring through the woods, every Saturday afternoon at 3pm.

It is a Seventh Day Baptist church, the religion founded by my earliest American ancestor in the 1600s, and it has sat on this spot since the 1860s, plodding patiently through time.

It was never my church. That is to say, I never attended it as a congregant, but my neighbors did, other children in my tiny town. They invited me in, and I played in the balcony and sat in the bible school chairs. The neighborhood church is a staple of small town life, and this one was a piece of my childhood.

Now it is empty. The congregation has diminished to five people, and no service has been held here since October of 2008, but still it sits and waits. Every winter, more paint peels, and every summer, the well dries, but the church is strong and sturdy, ready for its next life, whatever that may be. 


Last spring, my parents and I learned that the church was going to be sold. We began researching the property and considering the possibilities for the location. It would make a great spot for a community space, and would keep with the original purpose of the building. We could offer green space and community gardens to nearby affordable housing residents. We could open the doors to our neighbors, and use the building for community event space, like food and toy drives, potlucks, after-school programs. We could start a nonprofit that would enrich our own community in an immediate and tangible way. 

This month, we made an offer, it was accepted, and we are now under contract. We have spent several months treating the nonprofit idea as a hypothetical, but it is suddenly very real, and we are trying to raise money for the necessary renovations before the nonprofit can begin.

My father is an experienced carpenter who specializes in restoring old post and beam buildings. Several years ago, the congregation of the church employed him to work on the belfry, which was in disrepair. He is excited to get his hands on the rest of the building, and restore it to glory. 
The bones of the old building are good but the property has many challenges. It's nothing beyond our abilities, but we find ourselves in need of financial assistance for the renovation. Among the most major needs are: painting, a new well, heating and cooling work, electrical work, a new roof, repair of the many enormous windows, and general weather-proofing. We will also build in a small living space with a commercial kitchen that can be shared between the living space and community space.


Once the renovations to the building and well are complete, we will till the land and invite our neighbors to grow produce and flowers in our community gardens. Should there be any excess in donations, it would go to seed money for the nonprofit.


I have set an ambitious fundraising goal because this is a big job, but worthwhile. I love this church, and I invite my neighbors to love it with me. To feel ownership as members of their community in a public space. To give back, and to pay it forward.

If you are able, I hope you will donate. When we reach our goal, and the renovations are complete, I will invite you to the ribbon cutting and open house.

If this is the sort of project that you feel could be of value in your community as well, I will happily return the favor and help you get it off the ground.