Driving by Athens First United Methodist Church is like taking a trip to the past. The building largely looks the same as it did when it was completed in 1925.

The congregation for Athens FUMC moved into its current building at the corner of Hobbs and Jefferson streets in March of that year, though the group can trace its roots back to 1817, two years before Alabama became a state.

One of the most eye-catching features of the church is a copper dome. Over the years, the copper developed a green patina due to oxidation, one which Pastor Kenny Baskins said his congregation enjoyed.

However, problems with leaks caused by hail damage and other issues finally led the congregation to get the copper on the dome replaced. Baskins said there was some apprehension at replacing the aged copper, as the color matched the metal on the Limestone County Courthouse.

Baskins said the church was designed by the same architect as the courthouse, so they were designed to look similar given their proximity.

“We miss the patina,” he said. “That is a naturally-occurring event in the life of copper. Leaks were damaging the plaster in the sanctuary, so we made the decision to get it fixed.”

While the familiar green color may be gone, the shine of the new copper makes the dome look like it would have when first constructed in 1924. The replacement was done by a company in Decatur called CopperWorks.

“The man who owns (CopperWorks) said that is the best-built dome he has ever been in,” Baskins said. “The people in 1924 were serious about it standing the test of time, and we want to secure this property for our community for another 100 years.”

Though it will take many years, the new copper may develop the same green patina as the original metal.

“It is all dependent on acids and other things in the atmosphere,” Baskins said. “Because of the historical significance of the church we tried to fix it back as accurate (to the original look) as we can.”

For Athens the bells toll

Another recently completed project at Athens FUMC is the annual maintenance on the building’s bells. Athens FUMC has three traditional bells that chime out the hour every day, as well as playing songs and hymns depending on the season.

“Those bells were built in the 1990s, and they sound marvelous,” Baskins said. “It has always been a standard accepted practice that church bells serve an important purpose marking time and announcing important events.

The bells were placed in a tower built on the Jefferson Street side of the church.

While electronic bell sounds can be played through speakers, Baskins said the sound is similar but cannot compare to real bells in his “non-expert opinion.”

Owner Chuck White and other members of White’s Clock and Carillon, of Senoia, Georgia, were at the church Tuesday giving the bells a tune up. White said the company services the FUMC bells twice a year.

“We go up and check the hardware and make sure there’s no loose nuts or bolts,” White said. “We oil the pivot points on the strikers and test all the equipment to make sure it’s working.”

White said his company has about 300 customers from Georgia to Louisiana. He said his whole family works in this type of business, though he said seeing real bells these days is not very common.

“They are so expensive to keep going,” he said. “If they break, they are expensive to fix. What you see a lot now is speakers. A church can put in a sound system for a fraction of the cost of bells.”

That said, White said bells let the community know the church is still “alive and well.”

“Bells are the voice of the church,” he said.

Baskins said people sometimes forget buildings are a wonderful addition to a community. Though the bells “require a great deal of work and expense to maintain, the church assumes that responsibility.”

“We want to do it in a way the community will be blessed by,” he said.