Pastor Frank Brown is spearheading an effort to raise $75,000 to restore the steeple and enhance the exterior at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Thursday Sept. 3, 2015, in Port Republic.

McSee was the seventh- and eighth-grade choir teacher at Port Republic Elementary School and choir director at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, where the child's family attends services.

Cleo Parker of Port Republic stands in front of the spot where her parents, Blanche and Oliver Parker Sr., are buried at Brown’s United Methodist Church cemetery.

The Methodists stopped using the church for worship in 2012. The distinctive building at 225 King St. resembles a medieval castle and it sits near the Port Chester train station.

PORT REPUBLIC — It will take the power and prayers of a congregation to save the steeple of an iconic Methodist church in this small town. St. Paul’s United Methodist Church — now 143 years ...