History of the Building
People are amazed to learn that the old church was built in 1862 as a hops barn, for drying and storing hops, which was used to make beer. In the mid-1870’s it was sold to a local Christian group who had been meeting in each other’s homes. They added a two-story section on the back and turned it into a church.
The year after the hymn made its debut in that church, the congregation sold the church to one of their trustees and moved into the abandoned Baptist Church across Kansas Street. Their trustee didn’t need a church. He needed a barn. Consequently he tore out the sanctuary floor and brought in livestock, turning the building back into a barn.
The building remained a barn for the next eighty-four years until its roof sagged and leaked, the walls fell off their sill beams and were rotting from the ground up, and the shuttered windows fell off exposing the interior of the building to the elements and varmints.
In 1998, Bob and Molly Shaffer purchased the building and formed the all volunteer, multi-denominational Old Rugged Cross Foundation, Inc. The group began raising funds to restore the building to its earlier church era appearance.
Because they never took out any loans and only proceeded as money became available, it took twenty-one years to complete the restoration. Volunteers from many different denominations helped raise the money to fund the restoration.
God sent Dale Layman, owner of D. Layman Construction in Berrien Springs, Mich. to head up the restoration efforts and he treated the project as if it were his life’s legacy. And today, it is.
History of the Hymn and Its Composer
Rev. George Bennard began his ministry as an officer in the Salvation Army and then became an Evangelist. He began writing “The Old Rugged Cross” in Albion, Mich. and continued working on it as he traveled around with his Evangelism.
In January of 1913, his good friend Rev. Leroy Bostwick, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pokagon invited him to help with a series of revivals at the church in Pokagon. When Rev. Bennard arrived at the Bostwick’s home, he brought with him the first two verses of his latest hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross”.
Mrs. Bostwick wrote that Rev. Bennard would pluck out a few notes, write words on a piece of paper and occasionally he would come into the kitchen where she was working and play the latest addition and ask what she thought of it. She said she would sometimes make suggestions and sometimes he would take her suggestions and sometimes not.
While staying with the Bostwicks’s Rev. Bennard completed the hymn and performed the final version of it first for Rev. and Mrs. Bostwick. in their home. They were so impressed with it that they offered to pay for the original printing of it. Rev. Bennard accepted their offer and referred to it as “their song”.
He then introduced it accompanying himself on his guitar at one of the revival meetings. He taught it to a quartet, a violinist and the church organist. They performed it from his penciled notes several times throughout the course of the revival meetings.
Rev. Bennard ended up selling the hymn to Homer Rodeheaver who was better able to promote it. Billy Sunday took it as one of his theme songs and is responsible for spreading its popularity.
Original Pump Organ Returns to the Old Rugged Cross Church
We had just begun the restoration when a Niles resident contacted Bob Shaffer and told him he had the original organ from the old church. He had purchased it years earlier from an antique dealer who was going out of business and was told it was the original organ from the Old Rugged Cross Church. Having no reason to doubt the story, the ORCF purchased the organ and the Shaffer’s stored it in their home until the church was restored enough to house it.
In 2023, Molly Shaffer, the Old Rugged Cross Foundation (ORCF) Secretary/Treasurer, was contacted by Nancy Heidelberger of Pennsylvania saying she had the original organ from the Old Rugged Cross Church. Molly was dubious to say the least, having proudly displayed the other “original organ” in the ORC Church for many years. She had, however, always been curious as to why that organ did not match the one pictured with the original choir members who remained in an early 1940’s picture she had.
As she and Nancy continued to correspond via email, Molly asked for pictures of the organ Nancy had inherited from her mother. When she saw them she was astounded to see that Nancy’s organ was exactly like the organ in the picture with the original choir. So how on Earth could the ORC organ have gotten to Pennsylvania?
As the story unfolded it became more and more amazing. Nancy’s mother, Marcia Duncan, had been given the organ while living in Ocalla/Bellvue, Florida. She cleaned house for a man who owned it and before he died, he told her she could have the organ if she would promise to “return it to Michigan where it belonged”. Marcia soon moved back to her home state of Pennsylvania, taking the organ with her, but died before returning the organ to Michigan.
Nancy didn’t know the name of the man her mother worked for and had no additional information about how he had obtained the organ, so Bob Shaffer, ORCF President, went to work using his genealogy skills.
Trying to decide who would have been most likely to have ended up with the organ, Bob and Molly assumed it might have been one of the original choir members. Bob began searching census records for those individuals and, after several dead ends, found that Charles Virgil, son of Franklin and Clara Virgil (two of the original choir members), had moved to Ocalla/Bellvue, Florida during the same time that Nancy’s mother was living there and cleaning house for a Michigan man who had moved there. Coincidence? We think not. The dates all seem to support the theory that Charles moved the organ to Florida with him and gave it to Marcia before he died, asking her to return it to Michigan.
Bob says that in 2000 when he was lying on his stomach digging holes around the perimeter of the old church, Charles Virgil stopped and introduced himself, asking what was going on. When Bob explained that he was digging holes for concrete piers which would serve as a temporary foundation for the building, Charles said he was here from Florida visiting family and drove by to see the old church. He was shocked but thrilled that someone was there working on it and was going to try to save the building.
The Shaffers firmly believe that Charles is the one who moved the organ to Florida and gave it to Marcia Duncan. The organ was picked up at Nancy’s mother’s home in Essington, PA brought back to its home in Pokagon, Michigan. Accompanying it were articles from local Michigan newspapers about the old church being restored. Many thanks are due to Nancy Heidelberger for her willingness to locate the organ’s roots and follow through with her mother’s wishes to return it to its original home.
The organ once again graces the sanctuary of the church, which was known as the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pokagon from 1874 to 1914. It was moved across the street when the congregation purchased the abandoned Baptist Church and was most likely given to Charles Virgil when the church acquired an electric organ.
Although the organ needed several repairs, God provided the talented Tom Umbaugh to make those repairs and it is now as good as new and plays beautifully. How do we know Tom was sent by God? When Bob Shaffer searched the web for someone local who could repair pump organs, he found Tom’s name and contact information. Tom, age 86, says he has never advertised and can’t understand how Bob located him. And God winked.
Tom Umbaugh would not accept payment for his time and talent for fixing the organ. He said he did it as a present to Jesus.
The Old Rugged Cross Annex
The ORCF has acquired a nearby building on the corner of Barron Lake Road and Pokagon Highway. It is currently being used for storage and is where the ORCF holds rummage/yard sales. The surrounding property is being used as needed for additional parking at weddings, concerts, and hymn sings.
Eventually, the building, which we call the ORC Annex, will be useable as an event rental property to help raise funds for the endowment fund for the ORC Church and Museum. The building needs ventilation, restrooms, handicap accessibility, a new well, and a heating and air conditioning system.
Work is underway as finances allow. The electrical system is currently being updated and new windows have been installed. Once renovated, we hope to rent it for family reunions, small receptions, community gatherings/events, etc.
An estate sale is scheduled for October 3, 4, and 5 of 2024. Mrs. John “Dee Dee” Howard of St. Joseph and Holland, Mich. left her personal property to the ORCF to be sold and the money used to support the ministry of the ORCF and maintenance of the buildings and grounds.