On July 12, Sunrise Children’s Services became part of the legacy of a venerable old church that today lies beneath the waters of Taylorsville Lake.

Garnett Mobley, a former member of the defunct Ashes Creek Baptist Church, presented Sunrise with a donation of more than $68,000 on behalf of the agency’s Spring Meadows facility, a residential home for abused and neglected boys, ages 12 to 18. The gift was presented in two parts, on July 12-13. Spring Meadows is located in Mt. Washington.

Mrs. Mobley explained that the funds were originally intended to help rebuild the church, which was taken in the mid-1970s when work began on Taylorsville Lake. However, due to a lack of community interest, and too few remaining former members, it was determined that rebuilding would be impracticable.

Mrs. Mobley, who had been granted power of attorney for her uncle, Tom Cull, the church’s former treasurer and a generous contributor over the years, elected to donate the funds rather than see them go to the state.

“My uncle wanted to move the church, but there just wasn’t enough time,” Mrs. Mobley recalled. “The last service was held Oct. 24, 1976, in (a mostly) empty church. There were six people there.”

A relative of Mrs. Mobley’s mother was the church’s first pastor. Established in 1910, Ashes Creek began as a multi-denominational church, with services alternating between Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and Christian Church liturgies.

In later years, she discovered that the church’s history closely paralleled those of her Cull relatives. The Cull family had come from Owen County.

During a visit there, Mrs. Mobley came across a county thoroughfare named “Cull Road.” On it, she discovered a very familiar-looking Baptist church, which had clearly provided the design for the Taylorsville church.