Out & About: Perkinsville church resumes services following repairs

The grand piano in the sanctuary of the Perkinsville (Vt.) Community Church stands repaired and tuned on Oct. 8, 2024, after it was damaged by a collapsed ceiling in March 2022. The church will begin holding 5 p.m. Sunday services Oct. 13. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

The grand piano in the sanctuary of the Perkinsville (Vt.) Community Church stands repaired and tuned on Oct. 8, 2024, after it was damaged by a collapsed ceiling in March 2022. The church will begin holding 5 p.m. Sunday services Oct. 13. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Valley News photographs — James M. Patterson

Yoga Instructor Lisa Gleeson photographed the Sanctuary of the Perkinsville Community Church on Monday, March 28, 2022, after the class she was leading in the church basement was interrupted by the sound of the ceiling falling one floor above. No one was injured in the collapse. Photo by Lisa Gleeson

Yoga Instructor Lisa Gleeson photographed the Sanctuary of the Perkinsville Community Church on Monday, March 28, 2022, after the class she was leading in the church basement was interrupted by the sound of the ceiling falling one floor above. No one was injured in the collapse. Photo by Lisa Gleeson Lisa Gleeson photograph

The Perkinsville Community Church, standing at the head of the green in the Weathersfield, Vt., village of Perkinsville, in Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, will hold two months of 5 p.m. Sunday services beginning on Oct. 13. The church congregation, with three members, has been inactive since before the sanctuary ceiling collapsed in March of 2022. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

The Perkinsville Community Church, standing at the head of the green in the Weathersfield, Vt., village of Perkinsville, in Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, will hold two months of 5 p.m. Sunday services beginning on Oct. 13. The church congregation, with three members, has been inactive since before the sanctuary ceiling collapsed in March of 2022. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

“We want to see it have a congregation again and see it live,” said Kathy Giurtino, 78, one of three remaining members of the Perkinsville Community Church in Perkinsville, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Giurtino grew up in the village attending church there. After 50 years away raising a family, she returned with her husband in 2014, and they renewed her wedding vows in the church in 2021.(Valley News - James M. Patterson)

“We want to see it have a congregation again and see it live,” said Kathy Giurtino, 78, one of three remaining members of the Perkinsville Community Church in Perkinsville, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Giurtino grew up in the village attending church there. After 50 years away raising a family, she returned with her husband in 2014, and they renewed her wedding vows in the church in 2021.(Valley News - James M. Patterson) James M. Patterson

The basement of the Perkinsville (Vt.) Community Church, shown on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2024, received fresh paint and new carpet as part of an interior restoration after the sanctuary ceiling collapsed in March of 2022. Kathy Giurtino, one of the three remaining members of the church, described the church as having been the heart of the community when she was growing up there, recalling dinners put on by the local Boy Scout troop in the basement, and walking there from school with her classmates to receive polio vaccinations. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

The basement of the Perkinsville (Vt.) Community Church, shown on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2024, received fresh paint and new carpet as part of an interior restoration after the sanctuary ceiling collapsed in March of 2022. Kathy Giurtino, one of the three remaining members of the church, described the church as having been the heart of the community when she was growing up there, recalling dinners put on by the local Boy Scout troop in the basement, and walking there from school with her classmates to receive polio vaccinations. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) James M. Patterson

The front window of the Perkinsville Community Church looks out onto the village green in the southwest corner of the Town of Weathersfield, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2024. The building underwent a careful interior restoration following the collapse of the sanctuary ceiling in March of 2022. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

The front window of the Perkinsville Community Church looks out onto the village green in the southwest corner of the Town of Weathersfield, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2024. The building underwent a careful interior restoration following the collapse of the sanctuary ceiling in March of 2022. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) James M. Patterson

By LIZ SAUCHELLI

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 10-12-2024 4:01 PM

Modified: 10-14-2024 10:36 AM


PERKINSVILLE — The Perkinsville Community Church will resume church services this Sunday for the first time since March 2022 when a plaster ceiling collapsed in the church’s sanctuary.

This Sunday at 5 p.m., the red brick church — located at 35 Church St. in the center of the village — will hold a service and refreshments will be served afterward in the finished basement.

The Rev. Michael Boy, who has been the pastor at nearby Ascutney Union Church, will lead the service and has committed to leading services in Perkinsville for two months to see if enough people want to continue to attend the church regularly. Boy welcomes congregants who practice all forms of Christianity, including those who want to explore their faith and beliefs.

While Boy expects there will be interest in the first few services in Perkinsville, he is eager to see if it will grow and continue as the weeks go on.

“To actually maintain a congregation is different so we’ll just have to wait to see,” Boy said in a phone interview.

That could be a challenge in Vermont: The state has one of the highest percentages of people — 47% — who say they “seldom or never” attend church, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey.

“As a pastor and minister, I think it’s something God has to be involved in, as it were, and move people to come. People have to have a certain sense of meaning and desire,” Boy said. 

The church has been repaired in the year and a half since the ceiling fell in.

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During a tour of the church Tuesday afternoon, congregant Kathy Giurtino pointed out the new ceiling and carpets, and the piano that was filled with plaster dust when the ceiling came down. In the sanctuary, there is a balcony and bell tower. The basement boasts a full kitchen and ample space for community members to gather. 

At the time of the collapse, a yoga class was meeting in the church basement, but no one was injured. 

“The plaster dust just permeated everything,” said Giurtino, 78, of Chester, Vt. “Everything needed to be freshened up.”

She declined to disclose details about the restoration process, including the cost of repairs.

Yoga classes have not resumed at the church; Giurtino said the church is open to hosting community programs, particularly those that are offered at no cost to participants.

Giurtino, who grew up in Perkinsville  and returned to Vermont around a decade ago, is one of a handful of congregants remaining at the church and is hoping that more people will join them to rebuild the church community.

“We just want to bring life back in to the church,” said Giurtino. “It’s too beautiful a church to not have a congregation.”

This is not the first time the church has recovered from disaster. It was originally built in 1832 and burned down roughly a century later, before being rebuilt.

The church was already struggling before the ceiling collapse in  2022, and did not hold services regularly due to declining attendance and difficulty finding a pastor.

  “I’d just love to see it strong again,” said Giurtino. “This is a wonderful church waiting for a family.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

CORRECTION: The plaster ceiling in the sanctuary of the Perkinsville Community Church collapsed in March 2022. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated what part of the church collapsed.