Modern Technology Comes To The Rescue Of 180 Year Old Church

PHOTOS: Though still running without electricity or water, the Union Church of Meredith Neck in Meredith, NH, still holds services in the summer months. It was built in 1839 (photo below) and was renovated in 1898 and 1955.

On Meredith Neck Road in Meredith, NH, there is a small white church, the Union Church of Meredith Neck.
It was erected in 1839 as a meeting house for Methodist ministers in training, but then later became an Adventist house of worship, close to where they baptized people in Advent Cove.
It was rebuilt in 1954, now sporting the bell from the old Mt. Washington ship, which was destined for the dump. It is presently the home to multi-denominations who worship weekly in the summer.
Over all the years, the church has been lovingly cared for by many trustees and volunteers, and has kept its original format of different weekly ministers.

The winter of 2018 was not kind to the wooden cross, ball and platform at the top of the steeple. Water had done damage through the years and the whole unit came blowing down in a storm.
The neighbor who found the cross knew just the person to call and church trustee Chuck Thorndike was immediately in charge of making things right again, with help from his committee of Bev Lapham, Ivor Thomas, and Rick Goodby.
Instead of remaking the structure from wood, thoughts quickly turned to more modern methods.
Chuck contacted Kenneth Deshaies in Laconia, who through his position at Hebert Foundry and Machine, became the CAD engineer and worked up an exact replica of the piece, donating half of his design work to the church.
After that step was completed, the project was turned over to Stratasys, a company out of the Boston area with national locations. There, Project Engineer Brian Menzie, located in Valencia, CA started recreating the structure with a 3D printer. The printing of the design itself, with decorative finial, took over three weeks to finish.

Once returned to Meredith, Mike Pelczar and Mike-Dave Taggett, from Inter-Lakes Builders, appraised and installed the cross and base, saying that they were pleased to be a part of the project and community.
Neighbor and stone mason, Caleb King also came to help with site planning.
So, this little church, still without water or electricity, sports a 3D cross, ball, and platform at the top of the steeple.
Technology also played a part in services. Because live services couldn’t be held in 2020, the church had created a virtual presence with the ministers and soloists who would have been there this summer. That site is managed by Robyn Piper and located at robynannepiper.wixsite.com/unionchurch.
Quite the changes from 1839.
What will the next one hundred and eighty years bring?

Written by Karen Sticht.