PORTSMOUTH — “The handrail is a little shorter than what most people expect,” First Presbyterian Elder Julia Wisniewski said, as her hands ran delicately along the smooth surface of the antique and polished banister leading to the landing and grand worship hall of the church.

While her stature was small and elegant, she still treated the storied and lasting piece of architecture with care, “But, you know, it is just old. Actually, believe it or not, it is original to our church, Portsmouth’s oldest, with the building dating back to 1850. Oh, how many people have leaned on this railing over the years, as they made their way to worship? How many conductors from the Underground Railroad used this entrance, ushering in runaway slaves? It’s something to think about. This place is history.”

Wisniewski then continued her way up the southside option of twin staircases and to the hall, which was purposefully elevated to avoid historic floods.

When her feet landed above the staircase, members of the church were already gathering to provide a tour of their unplanned and massive but necessary, preservation efforts to the historic site.

Congregants are taking a serious effort at keeping the place alive, down to the banisters, as explained by Wisniewski and her peers.

However, some of their loftiest goals are now ahead of them — as they try to raise over $100,000 to keep the church standing after structural concerns made themselves known.

In the worship hall, while many members of the church and Reverend Ronald Johnson surveyed the work and examined the plans for their behemoth efforts lying ahead, Wisniewski’s eyes kept falling to the historic stained-glass, which she broke from the group to admire.

It’s something she had done countless times over 69 years as a follower of the church following her baptism.

“The windows always speak to me, as they do many,” Wisniewski praised aloud to the gathered guests. “You know, everything depicted in the windows are symbolic, as they were meant to be an important addition to the church in 1910.”

While the congregation has been meeting since 1817, the current building was erected in 1850, in the form of classical Greek revival architecture and experienced many monumental improvements in the first century.

The stained-glass features supporting divisions which form a Latin cross in colors of the Earth and sky— which are in tans, greens, blues, lavender, and rose.

They come with fleur-de-lis symbols, which stand to represent the holy trinity and can be found throughout the church.

“The colors get lighter as they stretch up, closer to God,” Wisniewski admired, not breaking her gaze from the depictions in glass.

While the historic windows are currently in perfect shape, the roof and ceiling above the worship hall are another story, as they remain a major concern for the church, after recently falling 27 inches when support trusses began showing their age.

If the support were to fully fail, the windows would go with the roof, as well as the hand-carved, solid walnut pews that have been in the building since its inception, but now stand moved away from construction, waiting for the days of people gathering for sermons and the sounds of a live organ to send melodies through the space once again.

In fact, so too would the historic J.W. Steere and Sons tracker organ be ruined, which was purchased in 1892 for the 75th anniversary of the church, which did take some minimal damage when the ceiling fell.

In addition to those elements, the original brass bell, which has two clappers — one for ringing and one for tolling — is also still present, despite a tornado tossing it across the street in 1860.

At this time, the bell had significance to the community due to its role locally during the Civil War.

It was relocated to the churchyard and would ring for the cause, due to the church pouring money into help for the wounded, their widows, and orphans.

Upon the end of the Civil War, the cupola was repaired, they finished the balcony, and added 16.5 feet to length — making it 99 by 47 feet and replacing the bell to its proper place.

The church has survived tornadoes, six floods and 203 years.

With a legacy like that, the church isn’t ready to let it go.

Upon discovery of the structural damage, the congregation came together immediately to hire an expert in historic architecture to examine the damage and propose a plan to correct the problem.

Preserving the past is important to the church, because the sentimental and historic elements that collectively make up the structure stand as a representation of an institution that has stood for 203 years.

A legacy of people congregating to celebrate a love of Christ, of rescuing runaway slaves as a very active member of the former Underground Railroad, and serving the community as a resource center.

With the desire to preserve their home church, the congregation has moved to another location within the building — and built 60-foot scaffolding so that contractors can reach the ceiling.

Steel has been fabricated to install in the roof joists to offer better support and the entire work is gearing up to begin.

However, now that scaffolding stands and plans lie out for view, the church is in search of much-needed funding to save this important piece of Portsmouth’s history.

“I think we need to be here for the people who call this their home church; we need to do this for the people who once called this their home; we need to be here for the past and those who came before us and for the future generations who will continue our mission,” Elder Betty Kennedy, member of the church since 1972, said.

The letter prepared by church members requesting support, which will be mailed shortly, reads, “Founding members of First Presbyterian congregation of Portsmouth brought with them a strong desire to ‘live by more than bread alone.’ Their strength was spiritual as well as physical courage. It’s that courage and determination that still today enables us to continue learning and teaching about God’s love.”

For the time being, the First Presbyterian Church ( PCUSA) continues to have sermons in a smaller room found in the church, where the congregation meets each week.

The church welcomes members from the community on Sundays at 11 a.m.

All are welcome.

The church is asking the community to support it in sustaining its legacy and history by sending donations to 221 Court Street, which will go entirely to preservation efforts totaling over $100,000.