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2nd Stop: Paces Ferry UMC - APC Sacred Spaces Tour

I began my Saturday at the Paces Ferry United Methodist Church for the Atlanta Preservation Center's first "Sacred Spaces" tour.


Paces Ferry Road is home to the Governors Mansion and many of Atlanta finest homes. A church on "Paces" should be big.

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I guess this wasn't so in 1896. On a hilltop on Paces Ferry at Mr. Paron it remains a quiet place in the woods. It's a scene you might find anywhere in the Appalachian foothills. It shares the Architecture Tourist award for "Buckhead's small and lovable churches" with New Hope AME Church on Arden Road.

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A familiar shape.

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It has never burned. They take extraordinary care with candles. A wedding party that insisted on candles hired a fire truck to stand by in the parking lot.

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I'm an architecture optimist: beauty doesn't require billions. If you build something beautiful and lovable, people will try to keep it forever.

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No surprises inside, exactly what we'd expect, exactly what we'd want.

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The Pleasant Hill Cemetery is older than the building, older than the congregation itself.

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Union soldiers remain buried here.

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Wm Brown donated the property to the church.

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You can unwind and remember on this hill.

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Thanks to lay minister, Steven Unti, Kristin Puckett, and to the Paces Ferry congregation for their hospitality.

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They'd be happy to see you on any Sunday.