Members hoping to raise funds to restore steeple at historic Slocum Chapel

EXETER TWP. — Pastor Guy Giordano of Slocum Chapel said churches are closing every day and he and his parishioners wanted to preserve their house of worship to be able to pass it on to the next generation and to the community.

Slocum Chapel sits at 1024 Exeter Ave., Exeter. It was built by James Slocum in 1867 as a memorial to his mother and father. Even at that time, it was one of the oldest churches in Exeter.

There is also an effort to get the Slocum Chapel listed on the state’s historical registry.

But for now, Giordano and the congregation want to restore the church’s steeple, which was removed 35 years ago because of its deteriorating condition.

The chapel’s belfry remains and the original church bell still rings, calling the congregation to worship every week. The steeple above the belfry needs to be restored.

The church group will host a “Belfry Bazaar” on May 15, to raise money to restore the steeple back to the Slocum Chapel. There will be a community yard sale, live music, silent auction, food and a bake sale. Giordano said the public is invited to attend.

If you can’t make the Belfry Bazaar, donations can be sent to:

Slocum Chapel

1024 Exeter Ave.

Exeter, PA 18643

Giordano said the last estimate received for the steeple restoration came in at around $10,000.

“The Slocum Chapel has stood the test of time,” Giordano said.

Giordano and his wife, Barbara, both work in the community — Pastor Giordano has worked in prison ministry for 19 years and his wife works for The Ark in Kingston, a crisis pregnancy center.

“We wanted the Slocum Chapel to be a place for those addicted and down and out to come to worship and have a place to raise their children in the Lord,” Giordano said. “We have about 40 members right now and we also host a large AA group that meets on Tuesdays and Fridays.”

Giordano said the restored steeple will house the original church bell that continue to be “a call to worship” for the congregation.

Slocum Chapel history

Pastor Giordano, with the help of members Nita Sarnak, who lives nearby, and Abby Lawrence, provided information on the history of the Slocum Chapel.

“I love attending services at the chapel,” said Sarnak, who has lived just up the road for 44 years. “I love the quaintness of the building and its history.”

According to Giordano, Sarnak and Lawrence, the Slocum Chapel was given to the community as a gift, and many different denominations occupied the building over the 120-plus years.

The only stipulation of the agreement was that there had to be a service at least once a week, and the building had to be maintained. Otherwise, if would be given back to the Slocum estate.

The chapel can seat about 100 people in the pews. Two rooms in the basement have been renovated to serve as a nursery and for Sunday school classes, and the interior of the church features the original tongue-in-groove woodwork that adorns the walls and ceiling.

The Church services and Sunday School classes had gone on for many years. Even when there wasn’t any heat in the building, two elderly women from a local nursing home would go down and open the church and they would have a prayer meeting for an hour or so.

In 2011, the last group of people overseeing the Chapel had to resign due to death, serious illness and aging. The building had begun deteriorating, and the roof was leaking. At this time there were only about five or six people left at the church.

“In the mean time, my wife and I were involved with a local Christian maternity home/shelter for young women called Hannah’s Hope,” Giordano said. “Hannah’s Hope was a place where pregnant women that had no place to go could come and have their babies.”

Giordano said these women would also learn motherhood while at the maternity home.

“Every month we would have a get-together at the home to praise and worship with the girls and we would have a covered dish with them,” Giordano said. “As time went on, more and more people began to come.”

One of the people that came was a friend of one of the girls that attended the Slocum Chapel.

“Because we continued to expand in number and ran out of room at the maternity home, we asked this woman if we could use the Chapel for our monthly meeting, and she agreed,” Giordano said.

It was Giordano’s time to share the Word that night.

“After the night was over, I felt a strong sense that the Lord wanted me to pastor this Church,” Giordano said. “My wife and I were not really looking for something else to do, as I was already overseeing two congregations in two of our state prisons, along with my obligations at my local church as an associate minister. My wife, Barb, was seeing an average of 10 to 15 pregnant women a week, and I thought that this church would be a great place for the girls at the maternity home — along with their children — to have a place of worship, to learn about healthy relationships, and to have a relationship with God.”

In 2011, Giordano said his dream and vision came true — he was asked to become the pastor at Slocum Chapel and he accepted.

“We went from six to 50 people, and most of them are young families,” Giordano said. “With this small congregation, we were able to replace the roof, fix the parking lot and insulate the attic. We have also been able to pour the floor in the cellar in order that we can have more Sunday School rooms. We were able to open up one of the storage rooms for a small nursery. We had our first Vacation Bible School and we had over 40 children attend.”

Giordano added that the church now has five dedicated trustees that have control over the everyday responsibilities of the chapel.

“For 154 years, this beautiful historical building has served as a house of prayer,” Giordano said. “By the early 1960s, two elderly women were all that held the building open.”

During the lean years, Giordano said the two women contacted Pastor Arthur E. Redmond, who became steward of Slocum Chapel on Nov. 5, 1965. Under Redmond’s leadership, and the faithful congregation, Giordano said central heating was installed, the sanctuary was carpeted, electricity was updated and soft cushions were put on the pews.

“As long as I have breath, I will give God the glory and try to make a difference,” Giordano said.