COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ascension Lutheran Church is celebrating its 111th birthday all weekend long.
The church was first founded in 1912. To put that into perspective, that is the same year the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank.
The church has been around since the start of this century and has seen the community through a lot over the years, according to Pastor Jackie Utley, who has been the pastor for the last decade.
"We are very happy to see the church at this age," Utley said.
The church held an auction and a cake walk and allowed people to talk and eat for the celebration. Ascension Lutheran even had the 1632 ink etching the "Raising of Lazarus" by Dutch painter Rembrandt Van Rijn, on loan for Saturday festivities.
Just as the painting shows Lazarus being raised from the dead, Pastor Utley hopes the church will also undergo a revival.
"This 111-year is just so important for us because last year we had talked about the closing. ... We have an aging congregation for the most part, so it's not like we have teenagers or no adolescence, except one 9-year-old child," Utley said.
Church member Alma Sharpe says the older congregation members are a large part of why the church is so small.
"I saw we've lost 25-30 members in the past 8 years... you might see whole families on Easter," Sharpe said.
Amber Davidson attended the church as a child and hopes this can be a rebirth year instead of a birth year.
"It was very much alive and we just want to bring that life back to the church," Davidson said.
Amber Davidson, the church historian, says that she's been working with Historic Columbia and has applied for a historic registration status for the church to help preserve the aging building.