The Tamaqua community has come together to help preserve a storied historical landmark.

The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is over 100 years old, and plenty of expensive renovations are necessary. However, the church is an integral part of many lives in the area, and there has been an overwhelming positive response from the community to make sure that the longevity of the building won’t be in question any longer.

“It’s been basically made up of three materials; granite stone, limestone and cement areas,” Zion’s Property Chairman Mark Valentine said. “Through the years, cement has been cracking; water would get in, freeze, and deteriorate the cement. We started the repairs two years ago, we did the Greenwood Street side. They basically removed all loose materials, cleaned and treated the areas and built it back up as close as original as they could determine. Now we’re doing phase two, which is our chime tower on Mauch Chunk Street.”

The entire project has four phases, and the total cost is almost $1 million. The deterioration of the building began to be quite noticeable five years ago. As a result, the congregation held a vote to either find a new home, or stay and repair. The strong response from the vote was to stay and prepare to renovate.

“We’re doing surprisingly very well,” said Dave Fetterman, chairman of the Zion Lutheran Capital Campaign. “We’ve exceeded expectations. We’ve only been running this campaign for about 27 months. We have, through pledges and gifts, raised almost $600,000 at this point in time. When I say raised, we have to keep in mind that when the campaign started, we asked people to make gifts or a pledge over a 10-year period of time.”

Fetterman was both surprised and happy with the generosity of the entire Tamaqua community.

“We have gotten gifts from people who are not members of our congregation, and I believe that has occurred because of the iconic nature of our church,” he said. “The church is well-known, we’ve served the community for as long as the church has existed, and the community have given back to show how much they appreciate our missions and services to the community.”

The church has approximately 350 members, and roughly 150 residents attend its services over the course of a weekend.

“The pace at which we’re able to complete this project will depend on how much money we can raise in a certain period of time,” Fetterman said. “But in the meantime, to the congregation’s credit, and minister’s leadership, we are developing new programs and offering new services to the community.”

There are two more renovation phases that Zion has planned. Valentine hopes that the next one is the corner tower, which includes the bell tower and the window between both towers. The following phase would be the chime tower on Mauch Chunk Street.

“I think it’s important to keep in mind the people make up our capital campaign committee are members are congregation,” said Fetterman. “They’re people that have never done this kind of work before. Now that we have grown in our efforts to raise money, we have learned more about how a capital campaign should be run. We have talked to consultants that have given us a lot of insights on how to run the campaign, and It’s been very helpful. We’re looking forward to raising the additional money to complete the restoration of our church’s exterior.”

There are many ways to contribute to the funding of the project. Gifts can be sent or brought to Zion during business hours. There is more information readily available for anyone interested in making a multiyear pledge.

“It’s a fabulous feeling,” Fetterman said. “I was born and raised in the Tamaqua community, and my experience always has been that the community sticks together. … We really try to use every opportunity we can to give back to the community, and in turn, we are finding that the community is willing to reciprocate in giving back to the church.”