Members of the Athens First United Methodist Church will travel back to 1925 on Sunday.

Well, sort of.

At noon in the Beasley Center, the 1,500-member church will open a time capsule that had been ensconced in a cornerstone at the corner of Jefferson and Hobbs streets when the Palladian-style, blond-brick building was completed in 1925.

The dig is part of the church’s 200th anniversary celebration.

Although the local paper published a list of the items buried at the time, it’s almost impossible to read because of time and the small print. The contents of the capsule will be made public Oct. 28 during a final celebratory bash featuring tents, games, oratory and food.

It’s been an eventful 200-year journey for the church, one that mirrors the incorporation of Athens the same year in 1818. It was a year before Congress granted Alabama statehood. The church has played a key role in this town’s development ever since, according to the Rev. Kenny Baskins.

“This church is very involved,” he said. “There’s nothing worthwhile that happens in Athens that doesn’t have input from our members.”

The first Methodist building arose during 1836 on the east side of Marion Street. The Greek Revival building was a welcomed site in the otherwise drab frontier town.

“Athens in the 1820s was a town of small framed shanties dominated by a courthouse, described as a large unsightly square building,” said the Athens Post, quoting town-founder P.F. Crenshaw in a 1876 article.

The building has come full circle. The church held men’s Sunday school classes there after moving to its current location. It then housed the Ritz Theater until falling in disrepair in the 1970s when Lib Gilbert saved the building by turning it into an antique store.

It became a church again — the Marion Street Church of Christ, to be exact — in the mid-1990s after a major renovation. The sanctuary was rebuilt upstairs, and two arching windows were returned to the building’s front, said Charles Bunnell, an Athens architect who helped on the project.

“It’s as close to the original as we could get it,” he said. “It turned into quite a handsome building. It seats 300 people upstairs.”

The builders added a Palladian window so caskets could be hauled into the new church.

In 1924, the congregation raised enough money to build the current Methodist church. It’s a classic example of Palladian architecture made famous by Thomas Jefferson’s use of techniques developed by renaissance architect Andrea Palladio when designing his home, Monticello, and the University of Virginia.

The church features a rotunda that dominates the sanctuary. The building is listed in the Alabama Historical Register.

A pleasant architectural surprise awaits for those entering the sanctuary, said Susan Evans, an Elkmont-based architect. She explained it is very similar to a sanctuary designed by Christopher Wren at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Sweet sounds

Equally impressive is the church’s huge pipe organ that dominates the walls of the choir loft. The Reuters organ is believed to be only one of five in Alabama.

“The organ is extremely important,” said Canna Rickets, the church’s organist. “It’s one of the finest instruments in this area. It’s such a rich, wonderful part of our worship service.”

Despite its unique qualities, Baskins believes a church is only as effective as its congregation. That’s the feature he most likes to emphasize.

“I love this church. It’s a place where a difference is being made in people’s lives.” he said. “It’s a wonderful congregation. It’s a great mix of people of different ages. You’re able to experience spirituality through all stages of life.”

Just as important to the spiritual growth of the church’s parishioners is a robust music ministry headed by Mary Stephenson, a professional musician who studied at the Westminster College in Princeton, New Jersey, and sang as needed with the likes of Leonard Bernstein directing the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.

Stephenson created two children’s choirs after becoming the church’s first full-time director in 1994.

“These choirs are important, because you have to perform with poise. They have to have the courage to get in front of people,” she said. “It’s not just good enough to sing in the shower.”

Growing pains

With the church’s recent rapid growth comes space problems. After buying an electronics store across Jefferson Street, the church built the Beasley Center, which hosts a contemporary service, to the north of the main building in 1992.

“We are landlocked,” Baskins said. “We may have to stagger our Sunday School classes.”

The church has dramatically expanded its outreach through the use of social media. The church posts both services on its web page and provides other information about the church’s activities.

“It’s as current as the 21st century,” Baskins said.

Baskins, in his fifth year of leading the church, explains the legacy he hopes to leave the church this way: “We preached the gospel. We loved the Lord and we loved people.”

It’s a legacy church members hope will only grow during the Athens First United Methodist Church`s next 200 years.