With a dwindling and aging membership, church leaders are trying to determine the best way to utilize the church’s spacious campus, the same way Middletown city officials are hoping to fill vacant downtown buildings. John Renick, a church historian and member since 1973, said the church rents out space for a nominal fee to Bull’s Run Arboretum and the church needs similar business partnerships.
Church leaders hope it can rebound similar to the revitalization the city is seeing.
“The church reflects the history of Middletown,” said Dr. Ralph “Skip” Kah, 85, a retired OBGYN physician and member of Church of Ascension since 1933.
Lorna Keeton, 70, has been a member since she was confirmed in 1971. She, too, has seen the peaks and valleys.
“As the city goes, so goes the church,” said Keeton, a native of London who moved to Middletown after marrying a serviceman. “Things have changed, not necessarily for bad or good, just have changed like I have changed. My children are grown. They were all baptized here. I miss what it used to be, but I embrace what our future is. Everything changes.”
Renick said the church prospered when Armco/AK Steel was thriving and the headquarters were located in the city and several paper mills called Middletown home. Many steel and paper executives attended Church of the Ascension. Two large stained glass windows behind the altar highlight the paper and steel industries with images of a paper machine and molten steel.
“There was a lot of money put into the church,” Renick said of the steel and paper industries. “You do not have the wealth or the numbers you used to have.”
Once about 800, the church’s membership now numbers 150, officials said.
The church, 2709 McGee Ave., has remodeled and expanded several times in the last 150 years. It’s probably best known for its 30 stained-glasses windows that depict the life of Jesus — from His birth to death to resurrection — that line the sanctuary. Renick described the windows as “priceless” and said they have been refurbished by BeauVerre Riordan Stained Glass Studio in downtown Middletown.
The church has started Planned Parenthood, Hospice Care of Middletown, sponsored one of the first Boy Scout Troops in the city and hosts a large clothing depot.
“The church did a lot of good,” Renick said. “We will look forward to the future.”
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TIMELINE OF CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION
May 1868: Church was formed and services were held in private homes in Middletown.
1892-1895: Church closed due to struggling finances and dwindling congregation.
1928: Church, with its distinctive red doors, was built.
Oct. 27, 1929: Church was dedicated the Sunday after the stock market crashed.
January 1949: Stained glass windows, designed by eminent designer Robert Metcalf, are dedicated.
1954: Wings were added for Sunday School rooms, the Great and Little Halls, St. Francis Children's Chapel, offices and kitchen.
1964: The nave was extended, with additional stained glass windows being added, and a bell tower was added along with the cloister to visually link the two structures.
Dec. 24, 1964: The 35-bell Sidney Case McCammon Memorial Carillon was dedicated.
1992: Memorial carillon was renovated.
SOURCE: Church archives
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