Building inspectors say a historic church in downtown Wilmington is in danger of "pending collapse" if action is not taken soon to stabilize the 116-year-old structure, and church leaders are trying to figure out how to finance extensive, and expensive, repairs.
According to a letter obtained from New Hanover County's online database of area building inspections, a letter sent Sept. 4 by Andrew W. Isenhour of Wilmington's Bluewater Engineering to Dr. Bill Cooper of the Holy Ghost Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer at 423 S. Fourth St. said, "The structure is compromised and at risk of collapse at any time."
Also on Sept. 4, the structure was issued a notice of condemnation by the New Hanover County Building Safety Inspections Department. A notice placed
on the front door of the church cited "bad condition of walls" and said the building was "structurally compromised."
Since then, yellow caution tape has been placed over the church's entrances and the sidewalks around the church have been barricaded.
According to the letter sent to the church, "This structure is currently unsafe to occupy. The primary structural system … has failed but has not collapsed, yet. This pending collapse presents an endangerment to any occupants and anyone immediately adjacent to the sanctuary structure."
The letter notes that the sanctuary's north and south walls "at a minimum should be braced against collapse and the adjacent sidewalk should be closed."
During visits on Aug. 26 and Sept. 4 to address "water intrusion," Isenhour said he and other inspectors observed termite damage, walls that are "out of plumb" or not vertical, as well as "multiple broken roof rafters."
"It is my recommendation that a contractor should be contacted immediately to temporarily shore the structure against collapse, then permanent plans for the structure should be decided," Isenhour wrote.
Liz Walker is on the nonprofit board of the Holy Ghost Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer, which owns the church.
She said they brought in a structural engineer to determine the cause of a leak, and "they found out it's not safe," Walker said.
"We really want to save the building because it does have a lot of history behind it and it's been in the community for a long time," she added. "We want to save this historic Black church, but as a nonprofit board we need help."
Walker said she's been told it could cost $500,000 or more just to get the building stabilized.
She said the board has been working with the Historic Wilmington Foundation to try to find different grants the church can apply for.
"We're trying to figure out, what are our financial options," she said.
In recent years, Walker said, the church has been rented to other congregations for Sunday and Wednesday services. The building's annex has also been used as temporary housing for "folks in recovery," and to prepare meals for distribution to the area's homeless population.
The church has a long history in downtown Wilmington, as well as a distinctive look that adds character to the brick streets of South Fourth. Located at the corner of Church and Fourth, a bell tower and steeple with wooden vents has one window that's boarded up. Curved, brick-and-stone window arches contain rustic stained glass.
The church's sanctuary was immortalized in 1985 Wilmington-shot movie "Silver Bullet," in which a pastor has a nightmare that his congregation is turning into werewolves.
According to New Hanover County property records, the church, which has an annex dating to the 1960s, has been the Holy Ghost Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer since 1987.
From 1975 to 1987 it was the Love Chapel God in Christ Church. Both Love Chapel and the Holy Ghost Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer had predominantly Black congregations.
Prior to 1975, the building held the United Advent Christian Church, which had a White congregation.
Linda Heath of Wilmington said she started attending United Advent Christian Church as a child in the early 1960s, when it was Fourth Street Advent Church. In 1970 the church merged with another Advent church on Ninth Street to become United Advent Christian Church. The church moved to a new campus on South College Road in 1974.
According to a church history provided by Heath and written by longtime church member Jay Wilcox, who has since died, the main church building and sanctuary on South Fourth Street was built in 1909. Originally Advent Christian Church, its named changed in 1918 to Fourth Street Advent Christian Church.
In 1959, for the church's 50th anniversary, there were 237 active members and "500 members on the book," according to Wilcox's church history.
The deterioration of the Holy Ghost Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer is just the latest in a series of challenges to historic buildings in the Wilmington area, which has lost multiple historic structures over the past two decades, many of them downtown.
In 2024, the former Manor Theater at 208 Market St., which dated to 1941, was demolished less than half a year after being condemned.
In March 2024, the facade of a 1940 building on Grace Street collapsed, with hundreds of bricks unexpectedly toppling onto a heavily traveled sidewalk. Luckily, only minor injuries were reported.
In August 2024, following heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debby, a 1905 building on Princess Street suffered a partial collapse and the historic 1902 Elks Temple Building on North Front Street closed after the rest of the building was cited for multiple code violations.
Due to these and other incidents, government inspections offices sent letters out to multiple historic property owners in 2024 notifying them of work needing to be done.
Walker said the church's board is actively trying to find a path forward.
"This is our baby," she said. "We really want the building to go back to benefiting the community."
John Staton is the arts and culture reporter at the StarNews. You can reach him at jstaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Historic downtown Wilmington church in danger of 'pending collapse'
