SUMNER – A small group of parishioners are determined that one of Sumner’s most historic sites will continue to flourish for another century.

“It is very unique,” said Lyndon Rogers of L.J.R. Construction of Norway. Rogers has been contracted to repair the outside of the church of the First Universalist Society of West Sumner. It was built over 10 years beginning in 1867 when Sumner veterans supposedly came home from the war inspired to build the church, which is beside Route 219.

Rogers has been spending the past few weeks repairing and painting the steeple and painting the metal roof in its original green color. It’s a labor or love for him knowing what a rarity the church is and the great effort the tiny community of parishioners are taking to ensure that the building remains standing for a long time to come.

“The only thing left to do is the sanctuary,” said the Rev. Glenn Hinckley, one of a dozen ministers who will provide service this summer for the 50 or fewer church members who remain active.

Hinckley, who runs a bakery next door to the church and has lived there for more than 30 years, said the church is only used during the summer when preachers, many of whom summer in the town, serve on a rotating weekly basis. In the off-season, a monitor heater installed about five years ago provides enough heat to allow funerals to be held in the church.

The summer services have been held for at least 50 years, according to one of the oldest members of the church, 92-year-old Anna Henderson Woodworth. A member of the Norway Universalist Church in 1926, she came to the West Sumner church 23 years later and remained there for the past 58 years.

“I came here in 1949. I only planned to spend the summer, but I’m still here,” said Woodworth who served for decades as the church clerk and transcribed the church records from 1829 through 1917, a copy of which is filed with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

“We had several ministers that preached regularly through the summer,” said Woodworth, rattling off names of ministers including Rev. Taylor, a female Quaker minister whose father owned a local farm.

“I was great friends with Rev. Miller. He used to take the train at Mechanic Falls I think and come to Sumner to preach on Sundays,” she said recalling her earlier years at the church.

Henderson and others, including church officer Cyndi Norton, know the church’s future depends not only on increasing its membership but preserving the building that was built 38 years after the the First Universalist Society of West Sumner was established in 1829.

About eight or 10 years ago, a few parishioners became concerned about the state of the building and formed a preservation committee. From that beginning plans were made to maintain and renovate the building. An application was successfully made in 2002 to place the church on the National Register of Historic Places because of its architectural significance.

The sanctuary is virtually unchanged from its original appearance, according to information in the National Register application. The floral pattern carpet was replaced in 1976, the original pew cushions no longer exist and a dropped tile ceiling has been installed because of water damage to the original ceiling. Downstairs in the vestry, a kitchen was added in 1913, electricity in 1955, water in 1965, new windows in the 1970s and a gas furnace in the 1990s to accommodate organizations that rented the hall over the years as a means to raise funds for the church.

But the original character of the sanctuary remains intact. Kerosene chandeliers hang from the ceiling, the original Estey reed organ that 102-year-old Roger Brigham of West Paris played for many years is still in the sanctuary, the intricately-carved pulpit, chairs and settee with their fading red velvet covering remain just as they were about 150 years ago. The post Civil War church retains a high level of its original construction and is one of the few remnants left of the town’s historical past, according to local church historians.

Surprisingly, the structure has remained in fairly good shape with annual maintenance until the past few years when parishioners knew they had to spend some money to repair the roof and prevent further water damage.

Norton said the church raised about $15,000 to pay for the repairs after a grant application to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission was turned down.

Kirk Mahoney, assistant director and deputy state historic preservation officer for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, said renovation funds are very limited.

“There’s nothing really coming from the federal government at this point,” he said. State funding through the New Century Community Program, which is contained in the education bond, may be available in the future but Mahoney said it is unclear at this point how much of the bond money will be appropriated for the program.

And even then, there is never enough funds to pay for the large number of historic sites, particularly churches, throughout the state that need financial help for repairs.

“It’s a problem common throughout the state,” said Mahoney of the need to keep up not only with maintenance but with renovation projects particularly with churches, whose steeples tend to rot quicker than the rest of the building. “It’s a common area of deterioration, “said Mahoney.

Parishioners know that with the exception of the Grange, the church, which sits on a high ridge, is the only 19th century landmark left in this tiny community.

“Often a settlement pattern, the landscape changed a great deal. But as you drive through (West Sumner) all of a sudden the church is landmark. It’s a lovely setting,” Mahoney said.