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Photo Gallery: Mount Zion Baptist Church sells its pews to fund renovations and its transformation into a community hub

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Mount Zion Baptist Church is parting with a piece of its past to help fund its future.

Steven Livingston, who runs Livingston Historic Furniture of San Antonio & Hill County in San Antonio, Texas, stopped by on July 1 to pick up 16 of the historic Athens church’s historic pews he had purchased.

Livingston said he plans to give new life to the pews, taking them back to Texas and customizing them to fit in people’s homes and businesses.

The Preservation Society of Mount Zion Baptist Church has sold the pews from the sanctuary to give it new life, paving the way for revitalization and making room for community and student programming.

The church building served as a pivotal gathering place for the Black community in Athens and Southeast Ohio from 1905 until the 1990s. The preservation society wants to see it become a community hub.

The sale began earlier this year, according to a post on Facebook.

Sales of the pews will help fund renovation projects like preserving the stained glass windows. With the pews gone, workers will have more space to complete that project.

Preservation Society of Mount Zion Baptist Church President Ada Woodson Adams said the overall, multi-million dollar project to renovate and preserve the building is coming along.

“The fundraising is slow,” she said. “But if we can raise just $3 million, that will get us almost finished with the church.”

Steven Livingston, with Mount Zion Baptist Church's stained-glass windows in the background, carefully cuts church pews on July 1, 2023, in Athens. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
Steven Livingston carries parts of a church pew out of the historic Mount Zion Baptist Church in Athens on July 1, 2023. His dog Tod accompanies him. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
Steven Livingston loads parts of a church pew into his truck outside Mount Zion Baptist Church in Athens on July 1, 2023. He plans to restore and customize the pews for his business in San Antonio, Texas. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
An old magazine image from the 1970s shows what Mount Zion Baptist Church looked like with pews compared to what it looked like on July 1, 2023 in Athens. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
Steven Livingston carefully handles one of the Mount Zion Baptist Church pews he purchased. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
Steven Livingston looks out on the Mount Zion Baptist Church pews he has purchased alongside a member of the Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society on July 1, 2023, in Athens. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
The historical Mount Zion Baptist Church building with a truck in front of it with three pews on July 1, 2023, in Athens. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]
Ada Woodson Adams, president of the Mount Zion Church Preservation Society, bids farewell to the pews that have been a part of the church for over 100 years on July 1, 2023, in Athens. [Ahmed Hamed | WOUB]