Steeple goes up on new sanctuary for 175-year-old church

Credit: DEAN HOFFMEYER/TIMES-DISPATCH

A new steeple was placed Wednesday on Bethlehem Presbyterian Church's new sanctuary on Old Church Road in Hanover.

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church is like thousands of other white clapboard churches in the turn of the road in Virginia, only this one on Old Church Road in Hanover County is about to get a new sanctuary.

The 175-year-old church received a $110,000 gift from a church elder 30 years ago with the stipulation that it be used for new construction. It has taken this long for parishioners to match the fund and add enough to it to build a sanctuary.

"We decided this was the time to do it. It was now or never," the Rev. Rebekah J. Johns said.

The new steeple went up Wednesday.

"This has been a long time in the coming," said parishioner June Cappello, a sheep and hay farmer. She and her husband, Roger Cappello, a physician, were married at Bethlehem Presbyterian 31 years ago.

"It's a big day for us," said Craig Davis, construction superintendent, as the new steeple was bolted into a cupola.

Construction on the new church started last summer. It is scheduled for completion in April.

Johns said the building committee talked with five construction companies and chose Norman Co. Inc. in Mechanicsville because of its ties to the church and the community.

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Steeple goes up on new sanctuary for 175-year-old church