St. Mary's Catholic, North Little Rock

Walnut Grove Methodist, Pulaski County

This is the little church that inspired this blog. These first photographs were taken last February.
Walnut Valley Methodist was built in 1885, just south of Mt. Chenal on Ferndale Creek. The Sunday school addition was added in the 1950s. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

This is Barney Taylor. He is the man largely responsible for bringing the church back to life. He has spent untold hours on the project. He says he's retired, but don't you believe it.

He hired me to reglaze the windows. Here's what one looked like before the paint was scraped off. Barney located old, wavy window glass to replace the broken pieces and you can see the distorted reflection in the shot. You can also see the old church piano sitting inside.

This is what the church looks like today. The pews are in and much of the landscaping is complete. Doesn't it look like an ideal location for a small wedding? It can be rented for one; just call 224-6047.

This is Walnut Grove's parent church, Highland Valley United Methodist, a few miles east, inside Little Rock's city limits. Their funds, along with Barney's sweat and toil, made the restoration happen.

church web site

Bread of Life Outreach, Pulaski County

This prefab metal building of a church is also in the Jacksonville / Gravel Ridge area.

Bayou Meto Baptist, Pulaski County

One more steeple-entry. Even though this a a much more modest sized church than the last two entries, it still has a rather grand facade in relation to its size. I like this one the best because it's less clunky. Also, the half-circular steps provide a nice foundation and their roundness gives counterpoint to the straight lines.

First Baptist, Sheridan

Here's another church with a big old steeple-entry. I spoke with a nice lady in the church office who told me when First Baptist of Sheridan moved into their new building, they brought some of the old stained glass with them and installed it above the entry and below the steeple. She said doing so was the only way some of the elders of the church would agree to the move. Don't you love church politics?

church web site

Central Baptist, Conway

These grand steeple / entries seem to be popular in new churches these days. I guess they identify an otherwise nondescript building as being a church.

(Yet another picture taken before the greening.)
church web site

unknown, North Little Rock

My wife thinks I should be more positive and less critical on this project, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

This church must have been built alongside Main Street in North Little Rock at least ten years ago. I don't know if there has ever been a sign identifying the name of the church. Maybe that's a commendable thing. I mean, when you know who lives there, must God's name be on the mailbox?

Still...

I guess what bothers me about this church is its scale. Not its size, but its scale. There are larger churches in the LR metro area, but this one fills an entire block in a neighborhood filled with small and modest sized homes. It just feels incongruous and out of scale with its surroundings.

Maybe it's just me.

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Update - The church has a sign now. It's called Full Counsel Metro Church.

Greenville First Baptist, Fordyce

Established in 1904 as 'First Colored Baptist Church.'

New Jerusalem Baptist, North Little Rock

Don't know whether this church has a steeple or a cupola, and I sure don't know what the style is. But I do know it's unusual. For Arkansas, anyway.