History, love help bring new life to chapel

Amber Edington and Nate Labagh were looking for a place to marry. Since they no longer lived in their hometowns, they didn’t really have a church special to both of them.

That changed with a small, 125-year-old chapel in Clayhatchee.

“My grandmother actually grew up just right down the road on a farm — her, her sisters and her brothers,” said Edington, sitting on the steps of Old Providence Church. “This is where they came to church when she was growing up.”

The Old Providence chapel sits off Highway 92 in Clayhatchee, not far from where it once served as an education building for Providence Baptist Church. The chapel was completed in 1887 and served as the Providence Baptist sanctuary until 1965 when a brick sanctuary was dedicated. From there, it became the church’s space for classrooms, offices and library. Its pine frame and 15-foot ceiling were masked with drywall, carpeting and broken up into smaller rooms.

When the Providence Baptist congregation decided it was time for a modern and larger education building, there was talk of tearing down the old chapel. But a group of church members wanted to save the building and came up with a way to save it without costing the church any money. They formed the Old Providence Foundation, bought a half acre of land from the church and moved the chapel so the front of the old chapel looks out upon an expanse of green lawn and the congregation it once served.

The foundation began fundraising to pay for renovations and hope its long-term future can be secured through hosting weddings and other special occasions.

And that’s where Amber and Nate came into the project.

The couple — Amber, 29, and Nate, 30 — met at the University of Florida where they both studied architecture. They were friends for a long time before they started dating. They became engaged on Christmas Eve 2010. Nate (who is 6-foot, 6-inches tall and more than 200 pounds) wrapped himself up in a freezer box in front of the Christmas tree at the Edington family’s Enterprise home for Amber to open, surprising her further when he got down on one knee in front of her entire family.

The couple will marry on March 3.

Both Amber and Nate are design associates at Haskell Company, a design and build firm based in Jacksonville, Fla. In their architectural studies, they both enjoyed historic preservation. So, when they heard about the proposed renovations on the Old Providence Chapel, they knew they had found their wedding site.

“It really worked out perfectly because I think both our talents with the architectural backgrounds and with the family ties … this community and our interests really tied together,” Nate said. “It’s kind of like God had a hand in it to make this come together.”

The foundation was more than happy to have their help. Nate drew renderings of what the Old Providence chapel would look like with renovations. The couple traveled from Jacksonville to attend a bell ringing fundraiser in antebellum costumes and to participate in work days. Nate’s father is a carpenter and helped with building projects along with Nate’s two brothers. Friends of the couple have even traveled to Clayhatchee to help out.

“I call it love equity,” Old Providence Foundation board member Edna Beam said. “They came and helped rip down walls and pull up nasty carpeting. They just both dug in and got their hands dirty.”

And while the inside of the chapel is not finished, the exterior has taken on a charming look with a new front porch, landscaping and brick pavers.

Because Nate and Amber’s wedding will be large — about 300 guests and a bridal party of 24 bridesmaids and groomsmen — their wedding will be outside the chapel with the couple taking their vows on the chapel’s front porch. They’re reception will be held on the farm of Amber’s cousin.

Foundation members even hosted a wedding shower for the couple.

“They’ve become pretty much like family to us,” Amber said. “It’s been an awesome experience for us.”

Beam said the foundation has big plans for the inside of the chapel. There will be an altar, a bathroom and a bridal waiting room. The foundation has also managed to secure some of the original pews used in the chapel. When the new sanctuary was built, the original church pews – made with long beams of heart pine wood – were given away to church members and ended up on front porches, in barns or just lost over time. Beam said 10 of the original pews have been returned for use in the renovated chapel.

A group is working on guidelines and prices for people who wish to rent the chapel. Another bell ringing fundraiser will be held April 14, when the foundation hopes to have the building complete. The first indoor wedding could take place in November.

Amber and Nate said the fact the chapel stood all these years and survived being lifted, moved, and then placed on a new foundation is a testament to the quality of its construction in the 1880s.

“The fact it’s still standing is pretty impressive,” Amber said. “They did wonderful craftsmanship. It’s great to see that’s still around in places.”