WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – As the oldest living member of Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church, 92-year-old Lucretia Munson has prayed for decades for the historic Black church to reopen.

After 23 years, her prayers may finally be answered.

Located near the Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House in Odessa, Zoar Church’s refined brick building was built in 1881 by free Black residents, all of who were successful, landowning farmers. The church replaced a meeting house a few blocks away, where they had met as far back as 1845.

The gothic-revival style church with vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows and an adjacent social hall, closed in 1998 due to declining membership and deterioration. But members like Munson continued to give money to the church in hopes that Zoar would be open once again.

“It was beautiful. Most of our people, and I, was working people. Old people at that time cooked,” said Munson. “It was fun. Everybody came together…Worked together…in a peaceful way.”

OLDEST LIVING MEMBER

As the oldest living member of Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church, 92-yearold Lucretia Munson has prayed for decades for the historic Black church to reopen.

After 23 years, her prayers may finally be answered.

Located near the Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House in Odessa, Zoar Church’s refined brick building was built in 1881 by free Black residents, all of who were successful, landowning farmers. The church replaced a meeting house a few blocks away, where they had met as far back as 1845.

The gothic-revival style church with vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows and an adjacent social hall, closed in 1998 due to declining membership and deterioration. But members like Munson continued to give money to the church in hopes that Zoar would be open once again.

“It was beautiful. Most of our people, and I, was working people. Old people at that time cooked,” said Munson. “It was fun. Everybody came together…Worked together…in a peaceful way.” Munson said going to church at Zoar was an all-day affair with parishioners arriving for the first service at 8 a.m. and not leaving until 8 p.m.

Munson’s favorite memories at the church were celebrating Christmas with the congregation. Everyone would pitch in to decorate the church.

“It was just a lovely place to go, that’s all,” said Munson.

Friends of Zoar hopes to fully refurbish the church and keep as much of the building’s original architecture and design as possible. ‘

The first step will be gutting the inside and weatherizing the structure. What cannot be salvaged will be modeled as close to the original design of the church as possible, said Steve Johnson, treasurer of Friends of Zoar Inc.

Once restored, they envision Zoar Church as a way to share the heritage of previous generations of African Americans in the Odessa-Middletown area. Plans for hosting events and ministry services are also in the works.

The nonprofit organization welcomes volunteers and donors who wish to support their mission. They can be contacted directly by email, through their website or their Facebook page.

“I KEPT PRAYING”

Standing in front of the altar, Friends of Zoar Inc.’s vice president, Anthony Johnson, looked out across the pews and remembered Munson’s daily prayers for the safekeeping of their beloved church. “We’re tickled to death to be able to have the opportunity to restore,” said Johnson. “There’s a historical foundation that was planted many, many years ago.”