Carpenter gives old church new life

HOPE — After years of missing the once-familiar Sunday sound, residents are hearing the peal of the church bell again.

Nowadays, it is not summoning people to a Methodist service, however.

Instead, when the bell in the tower of the former Hope Methodist Church tolls, it is probably a visitor in the foyer with his or her hands on the rope that Brent Lockwood has pointed out.

“Sign in,” Lockwood, a Sandpoint carpenter says. “Ring the bell.”

Lockwood and his wife, Gretchen, own the former Methodist church which closed its doors decades ago for lack of a sustainable congregation.

Lockwood, a builder and volunteer at the Native Plant Society, had his eyes on the church for a while before purchasing the structure 12 years ago.

He didn’t want to see the 100-year-old building fall into disrepair and, eventually, be demolished, he says.

He decided to buy it with the intention of making it a public place once again.

“I want to see that former vitality come back into it,” he says.

Although he tore down a failing addition on the back of the church, adding instead a new, immaculately-constructed two-story structure suitable for guests, the main church has stayed the same.

“It is, and will stay, as it was when we bought it after 100 years of sitting here as a church,” Lockwood says.

The church was built in 1909 using lumber for the nearby Hope Lumber Mill.

Lockwood has the receipt.

The boards and beams, 8x8s, 2x8s, 6x8s and 2x4s of rough cedar and lap siding were sawed and purchased in the spring of 1909 for the Methodist Episcopal Church, according to the receipt.

“It was milled across the street,” he says.

The back part of the building, a newly-constructed living quarters and kitchen, was replaced. The wood was recycled and the quarters, including an upstairs with two bedrooms, guest and gathering areas and a new kitchen downstairs, was built using a portion of the old wood.

But Lockwood did not stop there.

He summoned an architect — a relative — to design a community aura into the building’s aesthetic.

There are trails to nearby Strong Creek, which is part of the church’s property. There are benches and paths lined with native vegetation, as well as gathering areas suitable for quiet or boisterous conversation.

The church has its original pews and seats 50.

Since buying and remodeling the building, the church has been leased for weddings, receptions, birthdays and annual events such as a Mother’s Day breakfast.

Lockwood calls the church The Old Church in Hope and he has a website at www.theoldchurchinhope.com to promote the business.

In the post office not far from the church, Junie Blomgren is among town residents who have seen their share of changes in Hope.

Blomgren considers herself a newcomer to the community, having arrived just shy of two decades ago, and she sees the changes at the church as sort of a blessing.

“So many things change here,” she said.

The changes come and go seasonally with businesses closing, property up for sale and new owners and new ideas popping up regularly as daffodils.

Therefore, many locals like the idea that the church is being re-crafted, and re-used with plans for the long term.

“Everybody really is delighted to see something going on there,” Blomgren said.

That is good news to Lockwood who was at first hesitant to make changes to the Methodist church.

After 12 years working at it, though, he feels his idea and the new construction fits the community.

“This was their building,” he says. “It’s always a little risky making changes to it.”

Walking through the structure’s old and new parts as sunlight falls easily onto the wood floor, Lockwood says he is happy that he took the plunge those years ago and bought the church, something that seemed a little whacky at the time.

“I’ve been pretty pleased with the way things are coming out,” he says. “These old, wood churches, there just aren’t a lot of them around anymore.”