Roof Raising
A Conversation with The Rev. Wil Posey on Harshaw Chapel Renovations
By Robyn Barberry
“ A city on the hill cannot be hidden.”
( Matthew 5:14-16)
H arshaw Chapel overlooks the small Appalachian town of Murphy, North Carolina. It’ s a humble, vernacular Greek Revival brick church named after Joshua Harshaw, who dedicated his land for the construction of a Methodist church in 1844. The building was completed in 1869, but a growing congregation led to the construction of a grand, neoclassical church with an auditorium-plan sanctuary conveniently located downtown, while Harshaw Chapel was left behind, enduring the effects of time, weather, and disuse on the Murphy hillside. A failing roof and precarious steeple caused the building to be condemned. However, in 2018, the Harshaw Chapel Committee and The Rev. Wil Posey embraced its renewal. With the help of Partners for Sacred Places’ Central Appalachia Program, the community of Murphy eagerly awaits the rebirth of Harshaw Chapel.
Writer Robyn Barberry recently spoke with Rev. Posey about his experience leading the restoration of Harshaw Chapel. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Rev. Wil Posey. Marji Hill
Robyn Barberry: What were the first steps you took in this project? Wil Posey: I had no experience in historic preservation. I had never overseen a capital project. When I heard the price tag for the roof and steeple, I thought, how are we going to do this? We were blessed by the generosity of our congregation and received a grant for an architectural assessment. Right before COVID, we removed the steeple as a stopgap to keep it from collapsing. Around that time, we connected with Partners for Sacred Places.
RB: How did you find Partners? WP: Partners left a message on the church answering machine, and Blake Hughes, a trustee of the church, suggested I give them a call. Some would call it luck, or serendipity, or the Holy Spirit. I simply call it a gift. They found us.
RB: How has Partners helped you? WP: We knew there would be a financial grant attached to our participation in the Central Appalachia Project. That included support for planning and for construction. The planning grant allowed us to bring in an engineer to reassess the roof structure. The capital
26 SACRED PLACES • WINTER 2026