First Christian Church members are continuing to pick up — and restore — the pieces from the April 28 fire that consumed the sanctuary.

Member Steve Ainsworth, who is an experienced wood turner and carpenter, is currently restoring a cross and communion table salvaged from the church, while other members of the church are volunteering their time to help clean up other recovered items.

Ainsworth said he has the cross, one of three crosses he originally made for the church, clamped down to a table in his workshop to keep it from warping due to moisture it experienced while the fire was being extinguished. A firefighter carried it out on his shoulder after the building caught fire.

One of the biggest components of the project is the restoration of the communion table, salvaged from the sanctuary.

Ainsworth said the table survived, although everything around it was destroyed. The top was completely burnt, including the apron that runs around the top of the table. Ainsworth had to refurbish the front section of the table that reads “This Do In Remembrance of Me.” However, the legs of the table, the trim and the dental moldings were recoverable.

Through the restoration process, he has had to replace several sections of the table, Ainsworth said. The table is currently two-toned with dark sections representing the original pieces and lighter sections representing the new wood that has been replaced and not yet been stained. Ainsworth said the table will be refinished so the stain matches perfectly.

A 90-year member of First Christian Church, Mrs. Callaree Horton, who passed away Thursday, originally donated the table to the church years back, Ainsworth said.

This isn’t the first time First Christian Church has experienced hardship. Ainsworth said the church experienced damage from a hurricane that hit Beaufort County a few years back and the building had to go through some renovations.

“Amongst the church members there have been pieces the firemen brought out and we’ve cleaned all those up,” Ainsworth said. “There have been a lot of different people involved in that.”

Ainsworth said most of the brass pieces salvaged from the communion table will not be usable for the future. However, the pieces are valuable to the church’s history.

“To have from a historical standpoint, most of that stuff is being cleaned up,” Ainsworth said. “We’re in a situation where we have a unique opportunity to redefine who we are as a church. As we look forward, we can’t forget where we came from. All these elements are a reminder that we were custodians of that building. Whatever we do in our reconstruction, we will continue to be custodians for those who follow after us. It’s just about making sure that continuity of our history passes into our future.”

Ainsworth said long-time member Nan Hawkins, who is in her eighties, came out to help other members clean up pieces recovered from the fire. She spent hours with a hair dryer, drying the pages of a Bible that got wet from the firefighters’ hoses.

“The neat thing about it is Nan is in her 80s and has grown up in this church,” Ainsworth said. “It just goes to show you’re never too old to find a way to participate. When I last looked she was on Ecclesiastes, which is in the Old Testament. So she had quite a long way to go at that point. It’s all about buckling down and just carrying on.”

The First Christian Church congregation is doing just that — carrying on. They are still conducting church services at 10 a.m. every Sunday at the Red Men’s Lodge in Washington, Ainsworth said.

“Morale is very high and everyone is being positive,” Ainsworth said. “It’s a time of transition, but I think everyone is taking a real positive attitude and accepting the fact that things are different and we have to figure out things as we go along. All that matters is that we can continue to meet and grow as a church family.”