The sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church is currently closed to its congregants as a colony of bats has moved into the historic building. As the congregation worships weekly in Westminster Hall, pews lay empty and covered to protect them from droppings until the bats are removed — a two-week process that began this week. (Photo by Lauren "Chuck" Shows)
First Presbyterian Church to evict bats
- Published: October 13, 2024
First Presbyterian Church of Yellow Springs has long opened its doors to the public with the aim of operating as an inclusive and welcoming institution — but recently, the local church has had to rescind that welcome for a few of its guests: The recent discovery of bats living inside the historic 19th-century building has curtailed the use of the church’s sanctuary by both its congregation and the wider community.
This week, the church began the process of evicting the bats — at a cost of nearly $40,000 — and recently launched an online fundraiser to help offset the cost.
The News spoke this week with the church’s pastor, the Rev. Daria Schaffnit, who said she and others in the congregation first noticed signs of the proverbial “bats in the belfry” earlier this summer — though initially, the signs were misinterpreted.
“We started noticing that there was what we thought was mouse poop on the altar and organ every week,” Schaffnit said. “Those were the two places that we thought, ‘Oh, that must be the litter box,’ and the organist would clean off the organ, and I’d clean off the altar.”
The mysterious droppings were soon joined by the presence of a few birds in the sanctuary, prompting Schaffnit to call a pest control company to assess the situation — and the discovery that it was not mice, but a colony of bats that had been leaving behind signs of their presence.
It’s unclear precisely how many bats have made First Presbyterian their home, but a colony can constitute anywhere from a few dozen to thousands.
The church has moved their weekly services out of the sanctuary and into the multipurpose Westminster Hall for the time being, and the congregation has been worshiping there for about the past six weeks.
“If a bat were to tuck itself into the corner of a pew, it would be so small that you wouldn’t notice it,” Schaffnit said. “We’re not really interested in anybody getting rabies.”
After the sanctuary was closed, congregant Brian Walker covered its pews with plastic sheeting to protect them from droppings, both from bats and their bird neighbors — the latter of which have recently been ousted from the property.
The church has contracted with a pest control company beginning this week to remove the bats, which — as far as Schaffnit and others can tell — have only made their way into the sanctuary and not elsewhere in the building.
“We wanted to accelerate [the bats’ removal] as much as we could, because we have so many groups that meet in the building,” Schaffnit said.
Outside of its use as a place of worship, First Presbyterian — built in 1859, with the addition of Westminster Hall following nearly a century later in 1954 — currently serves a number of community groups as an event and community service space. Chamber Music in Yellow Springs has long held its concerts in the church’s sanctuary; the debut concert of this season, featuring Trio Zimbalist on Sunday, Sept. 29, was moved to Antioch University Midwest. Likewise, a community “Dungeons and Dragons” group is slated to begin meeting in the lounge, adjacent to the sanctuary, once the bats are gone.
In Westminster Hall, the church has also hosted local theater productions — local playwright Robb Willoughby’s “Roof Man” debuted there this April — and the local Beloved Community Project offers a free community meal there each month. And thanks to support from the YS Community Foundation, the church’s kitchen in Westminster Hall is set to be renovated this year, to be used by the local twice-weekly free meal program “Who’s Hungry?” which is currently headquartered at MAZU Restaurant.
“We are a small congregation and don’t have the people to go out and serve the community in the way that some other churches can,” Schaffnit said. “So we feel like our building is a really good way to give to the community.”
Getting the church’s sanctuary space back in working order for both congregants and community groups comes with a hefty price tag, however; the church received quotes of around $40,000 from multiple pest removal companies.
The cost largely stems from the fact that bats are legally protected in Ohio; they can’t be removed from May 16–July 31 and Oct. 15–March 31 due to their seasonal birthing and hibernation patterns — that Oct. 15 deadline is another reason for haste on the church’s part — and bats must be carefully removed through a variety of special methods.
Schaffnit said the pest removal company the church has hired will identify where the bats are living within the building’s rafters, as well as all possible points of entrance and egress. The company will then install one-way doors through which the bats can leave each night to gather food, but through which they’ll no longer be able to reenter the church. After about two weeks — enough time for the bats to totally vacate the premises — the company will seal all identified bat entrances and place a mesh shield around the church’s belltower.
Schaffnit said the church has just enough money to pay for the bat removal, but hopes the online fundraiser First Presbyterian has established will help replenish reserves for future needs.
In the meantime, Schaffnit said the congregation of First Presbyterian is dealing with their displacement from the sanctuary with characteristic aplomb.
“This congregation is incredibly flexible,” she said. “I feel really lucky to have a congregation that says, ‘Oh, we’re meeting in Westminster? OK — that’s fine.’”
To donate to First Presbyterian’s fundraiser, go to http://www.gofund.me/e7cc2718.
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