161-year-old church will rise again
When Confederate veterans Wiley Pankey, J.C. Worley, Frank Nelson and Leander Corbin returned from America’s most devastating war, they built a church.
“It’s a part of Gilmer County history,” Ridgeway Baptist Church Deacon Danny McArthur said.
To build it, the four men carried heavy logs, carved them to shape and fit them together into a simple and beautiful building.
161 years later, their action’s legacy still lives on. Ridgeway Baptist Church still has an active congregation, some of whom are the descendants of the original members.
McArthur is the great-great-great-grandson of Wiley Pankey
“It’s sad that we had to tear it down, but sometimes you’ve got to do what’s best for the church,” he said.
Riddled with termites, the building needed a major repair.
The congregation of Ridgeway Baptist Church estimated the church would cost $200,000 to repair.
“Termites really had been working on it,” McArthur said. “It was really leaning and about to fall.”
Natasha Pankey, a local businesswoman, decided she would fix the church herself.
“I hope I can put love and effort into it to revive it as much as possible,” Natasha Pankey, the great-grandchild of Wiley Pankey said.
The first step of repairing the church was to disassemble it. Through the process, Natasha Pankey learned a lot about her ancestors.
They were practical, hardworking and willing to lift a heavy load, she said.
They knew how to harness the natural beauty of the wood they worked with.
“It was just amazing to see 160 years ago, the craftsmanship that went into it,” she said. “They cut the trees and hewed the logs themselves.”
Natasha Pankey remembers that in the 1960s, people were considering tearing down the church building. Her great-grandmother, Nancy Pankey, stood in front of the building to stop it from being bulldozed.
“As long as I live, them logs will stand,” her great-grandmother said.
This time, there are parts of the church building that can’t be saved, Natasha Pankey said. Several of the logs will have to be cut down into boards to remove bad wood.
“I’ve shed many tears over this project,” Natasha Pankey said. “Driving out there and not seeing the church standing is very sad to me.”
The church has a personal meaning for her too. It was the first church she joined after becoming a Christian as a young adult.
The plan is to reassemble the church in a way that looks similar to the original structure, but it won’t be the same.
“We will have to probably plane down the logs and use them as siding,” she said. “You’ll never be able to restack them and use them the way they were.”
The reassembly will include a reading loft for study and prayer.
The church won’t be rebuilt at its original location, out of concerns about vandalism. Instead, it will be on private property somewhere nearby.
Congregation members, people with memories of the church and other interested parties are welcome to contact Natasha Pankey at natashaann1979@gmail.com if they want to visit the church once repairs are done.
“Every dime has come out of my own pocket,” Natasha Pankey said.
She hopes to have the church rebuilt “as soon as possible.” But projects like this are always unpredictable.
“They put blood, sweat and tears into building it,” Natasha Pankey said of her ancestors. “So why would I not do what I could to make sure that it was still standing?