Buried treasure discovered in historic Pekin church building

Trouble with the air conditioning at a Pekin church led to the discovery of buried treasure.

“It got really hot, and (Gethsemane Church member) Bill Schultz got up in the attic to look,” said Gethsemane Church Pastor Nathan Noyes. “There’s a little space up there behind the cross, and he noticed a box and said something to me about some Bibles that I didn’t really pay much attention to. Later, we had another issue and went around this box that Brother Schultz had told me about. I grabbed it and the box kind of deteriorated in my hand.”

Inside the container’s remains, Noyes found four German language Bibles and two King James Bibles that he believes are each more than a century old.

He is seeking an expert to appraise them, and they are currently on display in the church’s library.

“I think they’re from the 1800s, because from the Bibles from that time I’ve seen online … seem to match,” Noyes said. “But I don’t know 100%, because I haven’t had an expert look at them. They’re obviously very delicate. The pages are very brittle.”

Ultimately, it may not be surprising that the Bibles were found at Gethsemane Church. Noyes noted the building at 600 State St. occupies a prominent niche in local history.

For 145 years, it was home to the Second Reformed Church. Pekin native, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen was a regular Second Reformed congregate; and there is still a photograph in the building of Dirksen standing on the church steps.

The church’s bell tower houses a bell that was imported from Germany in the late 1800s.

When Second Reformed Church closed in 2019, its historic former home sat empty until Gethsemane acquired it last year, according to Noyes. The church celebrated its first baptism last month and found the Bibles at the end of February.

“It was fitting that those Bibles were above the cross,” he said. “This church had sat empty for over three years, and there was this wonderful treasure hidden there.”

Noyes indicated that the church’s air conditioning system had to be replaced but saw the expense as a fair trade-off for the historic find that its malfunction revealed.

He invited visitors to attend services at Gethsemane for a chance to personally view the Bibles. Obviously, guests will not be able to handle them due to their delicacy.

“We’d love to have people come to see these treasures and also discover the words written in their pages,” Noyes said.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correctly identify Bill Schultz, who was incorrectly identified in the original story.

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Buried treasure discovered in historic Pekin church building