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Sunday, March 11, 2018

Appanoose Brethren Church

In northwestern Franklin County, down a private lane and obscured from the main road by trees and brush, a once-neglected house of worship is being resurrected.

The Appanoose Brethren Church, built in 1886, served the local community for close to 100 years. Local records show that it was in use through at least the 1960s. In recent years, though, the church, abandoned and vandalized, began to deteriorate.


Enter Nancy Copp of Lawrence. She and her husband, Dennis, bought the church about five years ago and took steps to halt the deterioration. Now, with help from local experts, they are applying for the church to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Rural History Club toured the church recently as guests of the Copps. We followed them through the front entrance into the cavernous main atrium. Before us, a stage rose a couple feet above the floor. Behind us, a balcony provided overflow seating. Above us, a beautiful wood ceiling sprawled in a gentle arch.

In keeping with the general aesthetic of the Brethren, the church is simple and clean. You won't find stained glass windows or marble statuary here, just impressive and elegant craftsmanship. Look past the damage wrought by weather and critters, and you see that the building itself is sturdy and fit. The floor is level; the walls are straight and plumb.

We followed Nancy into the basement. Thick, square columns support the floor above. According to the Franklin County Historical Society, some of the wood used in the original construction was local, including the walnut floor joists and milled wood that came from nearby Overbrook.

The basement was clearly a gathering place for meals and fellowship. In the former kitchen and dining area--now a jumble of cupboards and benches--it isn't hard to imagine a roomful of parishioners enjoying a meal after a Sunday service or perhaps a wedding. An unfamiliar observer might wonder about the founders of the church: Who were they? What were they like?

"A body of baptized believers" 
(The Brethren Pastor's Handbook)

Originally from what is now Germany, the Brethren migrated to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. By the 1850s, groups of Brethren had spread throughout the Midwest and as far as the West Coast. They brought their distinctive beliefs with them:

"The Brethren were characterized by their practice of believer baptism by trine immersion and their observance of the Lord's Supper with its three parts: feetwashing, love feast, and communion. Their worship services had lively preaching and singing. Their congregations were led by unpaid or free ministers elected by the local church; they also had deacons who assisted the ministers and cared for the welfare of the congregation. Brethren people sought to live a devout and Christ-like style of life and to maintain their principles of nonconformity, nonresistance, and non-swearing."

Trine immersion refers to being immersed three times, for the trinity. The practice of full immersion earned them the nickname of Dunkers, and is one of the commonalities among the Brethren, the Amish, and the Mennonites, collectively known as Anabaptists. Other commonalities, such as their plain clothes and aversion to technology, are interpreted in many ways by the various sects; for example, even though some Brethren don't use television or radio, the quote above comes from a church website, www.brethrenchurch.org. (There's also a Facebook page and a YouTube channel!)

In Kansas, Brethren settlers date back to at least 1855. A brief history of the Appanoose congregation is provided in the book "A History of the Church of the Brethren in Kansas," published in 1922:

"In the spring of 1886, the Appanoose church was built on the I. B. Garst farm, seven and one-half miles southeast of Overbrook. The building was remodeled in 1919, and on September 12, was rededicated by W. O. Beckner, furnishing the congregation a convenient and commodious place of worship."

The 1880s were difficult years for the Brethren, who began to split along philosophical and theological lines. By the end of the decade, there were three main orders:
  • German Baptist Brethren, later known as the Church of the Brethren, considered the conservative order.
  • Old German Baptist Brethren Church, also known as Old Order Brethren.
  • The Brethren Church, known as the most liberal or progressive order.
Later years brought even more divisions, but were followed by a period of revitalization. Seminaries, missions, and participation in the National Association of Evangelicals have contributed to "a renewed sense of direction and vision in the church," according to the church website.

"Let all things be done decently and in order" 
(1 Corr. 14:40)

We spoke with Nancy recently to learn more about the Copps' plans for the church and the National Register application process.

FCRHC: What is the status of the church?

NC: Bob Marsh is helping us with the application process. He's doing the write-up: the architectural description as well as the significance statement. We're in Franklin County but right across the road is the Appanoose Cemetery, and someone in Douglas County is also submitting an application for the cemetery because they kind of complement each other. [Ed. note: Bob Marsh is a retired architect from Ottawa and the founder of the Rural History Club.]

FCRHC: Are the church and cemetery linked historically?

NC: Historically yes, they are. The cemetery is in Douglas County, and it's run by a cemetery association that works with eight cemeteries in the area. 

FCRHC: You're applying for the National Register, not the State Register, right?

NC: Right, because if it's eligible for the national, then it's automatically eligible for state. That's the recommendation we received from the state representative to the national board, who will help us submit the application. She is helping us with the submission process to make sure we meet the criteria.  

FCRHC: What more do you have to do?

NC: We're working with Douglas County to see if they want to submit both applications at the same time. They are due to the state in May. Then there's a national meeting in August, and after that it could still take another six months before we hear back. We're trying to make sure everything is perfect so we don't have to do it multiple times. 

FCRHC: Assuming it gets on the National Register, then what?

NC: I don't know! Just try to preserve the building and possibly restore it. The plan is evolving--perhaps convert it to a community place. The cemetery is still so active; if someone is having a funeral, maybe they could come over and use the church. But there's no plumbing--no running water, no restroom facilities--so we don't know. Right now the focus is getting it on the registry and then just keeping it from deteriorating further.

FCRHC: Are you limited in what you can do with it in the meantime?

NC: They recommend that you just hold off making any changes if you want to get tax credits.

FCRHC: Before you purchased the church, did you have any connection to it? 

NC: No, I didn't. I'm not a member of the Brethren Church; I'm just the owner of the property. We bought the church and a few acres about five years ago. My father and a partner owned the land surrounding the church. My son had watched this building deteriorate over the years since it was abandoned, and he suggested that I look into acquiring it. I've appreciated the church all along and said gosh, we've got to preserve this beautiful building and its rich history, so I said OK. And here we are!

FCRHC: What does it mean to you and your family that you own a piece of history?

NC: The more I research it, the more I see its significance in the community. This old building needs to be respected. The more I learn about it, the more I want to get it back to what it was. As with any church, it's where people were baptized and married and died and had funerals.

FCRHC: What kind of advice do you have for anyone thinking about buying an old church and/or applying for the National Registry?

NC: You have to be passionate and really want it. It helps to find the right people who will help you. They're out there. It's important to preserve our history--that's where we came from. 

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