End of a Normal era: Church's final service set for Saturday

Jul. 21—ASHLAND — One local church's story is not as common as the name may lead one to believe.

For the last 133 years, Normal Presbyterian has been a stable place of worship in the community.

Saturday, July 29, will mark its final service.

"It's been such a blessing and there's such a history there," said Leslie Moyer, a longtime member and elder of the church. "I was baptized in that church as an infant."

Moyer said her grandmother, who was born in 1900, began attending Normal as a child. That plot line is not necessarily unique.

"There are families that go all the way back to the beginning of the church," Moyer said.

Moyer's older sister, Paula Gannon, said she's been a member of Normal for 73 years. Aside from the four years her husband, Bill, was in the Air Force, their weekly routine has consisted of services at Normal.

Named after the former label of its location — the area between Ashland and Catlettsburg was once known as Normal — the church originally convened in a white wooden building situated along 44th Street.

In 1890, Rev. W.N. Mebane and S.D. Boggs, members from Ebenezer Presbytery, organized the church. Seventy-five names were enrolled as charter members.

Sixty years after its inception, the current brick structure was erected in 1950. Seven years later, several church volunteers constructed the three-story education unit, which contains the pastor's study, a children's classroom, a small chapel, adult Sunday school area and a fellowship room and kitchen in the basement.

Brian Steele has been Normal's pastor (and Sunday school teacher, singer, piano player, grass-cutter, maintenance man, etc.) for the past five years.

"He kinda met us by accident and was drawn to the church, was asked to visit and preach," Moyer said. "He's not a paid pastor, but he is an ordained minister. He did it for God, basically."

The remaining members are quick to give Steele plenty of credit for keeping the doors open. Over the last few years, remaining members have worked to replace carpet and install new padding on the pews.

Joe Caudill, Moyer's husband, grew up Baptist but fell in love with Normal Presbyterian when he first started attending in the late-1980s.

Caudill is now the church's worship leader. Moyer leads the singing, he said. They have mixed in some contemporary music with largely traditional hymns.

"I struggled with it at first," Caudill said of changing denominations. "I found out it's pretty much the same. ... The things I learned from being here over the years and as an elder, I learned about compassion and serving people — not just looking at yourself, but looking at others; putting others first."

Membership has dwindled to about 30 on the books, Moyer said. Attendance is frequently less.

At its peak, it wasn't atypical to see 300 in the sanctuary.

"The capacity is 350, so I'm pretty certain we were filled if not close to it in the 1950s," Moyer said.

Many members — from the Baby Boomer population and older — have passed away, so attrition is the main reason that Normal Presbyterian is planning its last service.

"Really for the past year, we have realized that it's getting more difficult," Moyer said. "We wanted to be able to have the last service, and then do some charitable work with the funds that were left."

"Things have changed so much over the years," Caudill said. "When these churches were built, this is what you did. Everybody went to church on Sunday."

The final service is on a Saturday in order for Presbyterian officials to be at their usual churches on Sunday, and to give those traveling in a better chance to attend.

Moyer said she knows of some coming in from as far as Texas to take part. Caudill said they expect about 100 in attendance.

Brad Napier, who was ordained 30 years ago at Normal Presbyterian, will deliver the main sermon on Saturday.

Caudill, Gannon and Moyer all said they don't look forward to it coming to a close.

"We're all kind of mourning the loss, so it's hard to think of where we will go next," Moyer said. "For the people there, it's like losing a family member."

The building's fate will be up to the Presbyterian Church — capital P and C.

"We'd all love to see a church go in there, but the way church attendance has gone, we don't know that will happen," Moyer said.

"It's going to be real hard to see if someone takes this old property over to tear this old building down," Caudill said.

Moyer said the Normal Presbyterian circle will remain intact, though.

"We can stay connected in so many different ways," Moyer said. "The whole spiritual sense has stayed constant. We'll keep our prayer circles for each other."

The final service is Saturday at 2 p.m. The church is at 4316 Winchester Ave.