The National Park Service’s (NPS) National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program has accepted a listing for the Macedonia Baptist Church in Burlington. (The Ironton Tribune | File photo)

Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church needs someone to run day-to-day operations

At Tuesday’s Lawrence County Commissioners meeting, Chuck Linthicum, of Burlington, came to speak about the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, which is undergoing renovations to save the historic Black church.

The contractor “will be done with that probably here in a few months. They want to turn it over to the trustees who own the building,” the church trustee said. “And we were wanting to find someone to do the day-to-day running of that place.

The church is vacant and no longer has regular services, but will be available for use by the public.

Linthicum said they have tried to get a preservation society together, but it hasn’t come together yet. And they are going to need someone run the church, since it is on historical tours and on the National Historic Landmark register.

He said that the place can be used for weddings, funerals or other social gatherings like family reunions.

The church was built in 1849 with the help of recently-freed enslaved people and it was the first Black church not just in Ohio, but west of the Alleghenies/Appalachians. 

It was that historical importance that led to an effort to preserve the building. The church got a $100,000 grant the Action Fund’s Preserving Black Churches program in 2023, a Jeffris Heartland Fund $12,450 matching grant in 2022 to assess what is needed to restore the church and in 2023, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a capital improvement bill that included $100,000 toward the church.

Commissioner DeAnna Holliday said the county has newly formed tourism and recreation committees and they could take the request to those committees to see if there is some way for the commissioners to help or support the church’s effort.

“I’m really excited by this,” she said.

“I am too,” said Linthicum.

Holliday said she is on committees with Lawrence County Economic Development director Bill Dingus and Marty Conley, tourism director for the Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation, to get national recognition for all of the Underground Railroad and other historical sites in Lawrence County and the Tri-State. She added there does need to be a discussion on how these buildings will be maintained.

Commissioner Colton Copley said that he lives near the church and drives by it frequently.

“The renovations are looking really nice and I can’t wait to look inside,” he said.

Commissioner Mike Finley said they appreciate all that Charles has done.

Holliday suggested that once the church is done, the commissioners could have a meeting there.

“That would be a great idea,” Finley said.

In other items on the agenda, the commissioners took the following actions:

• Signed and received the Resolution of Necessity of a Levy for the Lawrence County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The 2.5 mill continuing levy will be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. The last tax levy that passed to support LCDD was in 2006. LCDD has said that over the years, the growing demands and rising costs have placed significant strain on the agency’s resources, making it increasingly challenging to meet the evolving needs of the community and the levy will provide continuous funding, allowing LCDD to maintain and expand crucial services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

• Approved the hiring of Jessica Malone as full-time pound keeper and allow the acting administrator of the Animal Shelter take all necessary actions to fulfill the hiring as needed. 

• Received and signed the resolution submitted by the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation to apply for the Rural Industrial Park Program to build a new spec building in the South Point Industrial Park.

• Approved the following floodplain permits submitted by the Soil and Water Conservation District, Renewals: Riley Development Company, Inc., filling and grading project at 350 County Rd. 775, Riley Development Company, Inc., filling and grading and materials storage projects at 6300 County Rd. 107 (Shade Drive behind Proctorville Flea Market.) and Elizabeth Township Trustees, grading, culvert, paving and maintenance projects on Township Road R.O.W. 

• Approved the following appropriations and transfers dated June 17, 2025, under $75,000, submitted by Dylan Bentley, county administrator. 

• Appointed Chris Kline as the acting administrator and granted him the authority to approve and sign all legal documents on behalf of the commissioners, that may be due prior to the next commissioner meeting. The appointment is necessary because administrator Bentley is on leave after the birth of his child.

• Received and signed the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission 2026 Local Participating Funds Resolution 

• Signed and received the Community Corrections Grant Agreement for the Court of Common Pleas Adult Probation Department.