TRAFALGAR — Dewey Sizemore’s request of his wife, Violet, was to take over their church when he passed away. After his passing in 2003, she did just that.
In March of this year, her mission at Friendship Church was put on pause when a ceiling fan collapsed in the sanctuary during a Sunday service. Now Sizemore, 91, of Brown County, is trying to pull together enough to make repairs in order to be back in the building.
She knows the roof leaks in spots because of water damage visible on the ceiling tiles. She’s not sure of the extent of the problems yet.
Standing underneath the collapsed ceiling, daylight can be seen coming through the roof into the sanctuary. “We were in service, at the pulpit, when (the ceiling) started coming down out of the blue,” Sizemore said.
A congregant was almost hit.
“Everyone was afraid to come back,” Sizemore said. “It was such a close call. We don’t know where it will come down (next).”
The church, built in 1833, has been passed down through a family by the last name of Phillips, along with the surrounding cemetery, Sizemore said. Before Friendship Church started meeting there, the building was home to a Church of Christ, but the building became vacant when they built a new space.
In 1986, Dewey acquired the keys to the church, just off of West 700 South in Trafalgar.
Dewey played guitar in church settings, his wife said, until the Lord called him to preach. He pastored and preached on and off at different places, then started Friendship Church with another pastor around the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Dewey and Violet met and married when Violet was just 18. She and a cousin were walking to church one day when Dewey drove by and asked if they wanted a ride.
“Three months after we started seeing each other, we were ready to get married,” she said.
They rode a bus to Corbin, Kentucky, to get a blood test — which was required in those days — and then the next day got married on the square of their hometown in Manchester, Kentucky, on March 12, 1949. Violet turned 19 on March 21; Dewey had just turned 19 on April 23.
They later had two sons and three daughters.
“We had 54 years, seven months and seven days before he passed,” she said — “the love of my life.”
“He kept telling people that he’d be back here someday,” Violet said, motioning to the cemetery. “He wanted me to keep it going.”
Brandy Holland, Sizemore’s granddaughter, has told her grandmother that since they have done so much for people in their congregation, it’s time for her to ask for some help.
“This church is the backbone to our family,” Holland said.
“It’s just home,” Sizemore said. “There’s nothing preached but the word of God. Some people title me as ‘pastor.’ I used to give the word when my husband passed away.”
Though the congregation is only about 12 to 15 people, Sizemore said that they are a faithful group. “You know, it’s a community,” she said.
While her congregants have visited other churches while their building can’t be used, Sizemore has stayed home, but it hasn’t hindered her faith. “I talk to somebody about the Lord every day of my life,” she said.
When the Sizemores came in 1986, there was nothing in the building but the upright piano. Since then, new windows and restrooms have been put in and the paneling has been painted.
Violet said that anyone that knows her, knows that she asks for nothing, but now, she knows that keeping the church alive will “take a lot of doing.”
“That’s what it’s all about, giving to people,” Sizemore said. “’Judge not that you be not judged,’ and ‘do unto others what you’d have them do you.’”
They plan on having benefit fundraisers and dinners to raise the money needed, but they are also accepting donations. Their ultimate goal for all roofing and repairs is $35,000 to $40,000, but their first goal is to get the church into a shape to where they can have service, with the use of tarps or some other temporary fix.
They want to put a metal roof on the building, but the inflated cost of construction materials has influenced their goal.
The labor, church members and friends they believe they can cover; they just need help buying materials.
“I have faith,” Holland said. “I know she doesn’t like to ask, but I said, ‘Grandma, you’ve helped so many people in life!’”
“I just have faith that God’s going to do it,” Sizemore said.
Holland lives in Indianapolis, and though she hasn’t considered herself much of a “churchgoer,” Friendship Church is a place where anyone is welcome, no matter what.
“It doesn’t matter your who, your what, or your past, as long as you’re here,” she said. “I know that I could come to this church at anytime, day or night, and they will still love me regardless.”
“How can you have God and not have love?” her grandmother said. “God is love.”
Knowing that scams are running rampant at this time, Sizemore and Holland said that any money donated can be given directly to the First Merchants Bank in Trafalgar to an account created for Friendship Church. A GoFundMe account also has been started for the church online. They said they will even take gift card offerings.
“This is one case that every last penny will go to this church,” Holland said. “We’re appreciative of anything.”
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Donations can be made to Friendship Church’s open account at First Merchants Bank, 110 State Road 135 North, Trafalgar, or online at gofund.me/93950200.
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