Sometimes a selling point for a piece of property or a house is its location to something. Often times, people want to live close to a church of their choice.

 

Then, of course, there are my friends Russ and Becky Colley who have redefined the whole "being close to a church" thing. Back in 2013, the couple decided to move away from their home just outside of Bridgeport into a new rural setting toward southern Harrison County.

 

They found the piece of property they wanted in July of that year and would build their house there two years later. The parcel was relatively flat, looked easy to develop, and had something on it that I am not aware anyone else has in the area. The property came with its own church.

 

That is correct. On their swath of land, tucked away a bit off the beaten path in the Laurel Park area or Harrison County, Russ and Becky Colley are the proud owners of not just a beautiful home, but their own church.

 

Before going any further, it should be noted that there are no services held at the church and it is not part of any religious denomination. It also is not primed up for a large gathering or revival, of which I will discuss shortly.

 

It also should be noted neither Russ nor Becky are ministers. It should also be noted that Becky, by living with Russ for all these years, has her much closer to the Saintly requirements to delegate a little bit of religion, but I digress.

 

So, how did they come into possession of their own church?

 

“We were looking at the land we eventually bought and built on and I immediately noticed it,” said Russ. “Becky was in love with the land because it was level and here was this church sitting on the wooded end of the property.”

 

The church was not abandoned. It was never meant to hold a church service. Rather, it was built by the individual that sold the land to the Colley family for a different reason.

 

“Supposedly, he built it for his wife when she had fallen ill,” said Russ. “We offered to move it to the adjacent property he owned, but he said it was okay where it was because he could see it.”

 

Before the Colley’s broke ground on the property they now possessed, they owned a church. In fact, it was explored with as much interest as the land itself. What they found, which is largely the same footprint today, was, and is, interesting.

 

“I remember when we first looked inside of it. There are four church pews and there is like one little step up inside that gets you to a miniature pulpit,” said Colley. “As small as it is, you can stand up fully inside of it. The only place you have to duck a bit is at the entrance, but then it opens up a bit.”

 

Opening up does not mean into a large area. Russ said you might get seven or eight people comfortably inside. That includes four individuals sitting in the small pews, one at the pulpit and two to three people standing. The entire church covers less than 100 square feet.

 

“The other thing that is pretty unique is that there are four windows, two on each side, and they are all stained glass,” he said.

 

As much as they loved owning the property and their first-ever church, the church had seen better days. Sitting near the edge of the land and under a wooded area did not do it many favors.

 

“Mother Nature had taken its toll over the years,” said Russ, who said they had hoped to address the wear and tear after moving a gas line and a natural spring on the property. They just were not sure when.

 

That “when” arrived two years ago. And it came as some additional work was being done on the still relatively new home.

 

“We were doing a deck project when we decided to upgrade the church. We used railing we had taken off of our porch, and we also had some Trex decking left over to use,” said Russ. “We ended up putting on a new metal roof, soffit, a new porch with the railings, repainted it, and even put a new floor inside as it had rotted. It’s very sturdy right now.”

 

There is one thing not there that was in place when they purchased the land. The newly reconfigured church does not have the steeple that was on it. However, it is not because Russ and Becky got rid of it.

 

“It had blown off during a pretty big storm and what was left was not salvageable,” said Russ. “We tried, but there was nothing that could be done with it.”

 

There was one other thing that they thought about getting rid of that was different, but when they repainted the interior they left it inside the "little corridor" area he calls between the porch and the inside seating area.

 

“There was a couple that got engaged there. They had their names written on the wall and the date,” he said. “They didn’t get married, but someone proposed in there. Their names are still there.”

 

Even with the lack of a steeple and with a pristine church that includes a little engagement graffiti of an unknown couple’s moment of love, they are still in a position that I am certain some others are in, but not a soul I know of is in. They have a church.

 

“Since we have lived here, there have been a few people randomly stop by and ask about it, but even if you happen to drive by you probably won’t see it,” said Russ. “It’s not the reason we bought the property, but I’m glad we have it.”

 

As am I because, as noted, it puts me one up on most of you. I have friends who has their own church. Maybe I will visit on Easter Sunday.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Russ and Becky Colley outside of their church on their property, while the second photo shows the church before it was renovated. The third and fourth photos show the inside of the small church with the first of the two photos showing the one-seat pews. Bottom photo is of their granddaughter Ryland standing at the tiny pulpit.