Some may recognize Paul Lintern as pastor of Oakland Lutheran and Southside Christian churches; others may know him as one of Mansfield’s historians. A role of Lintern’s that many may be unaware of, however, is that he is the “caretaker” of St. Luke’s Point of Grace, a church building that he repurposed two years ago and made his home.
St. Luke’s Point of Grace, which is located at the “point” where Marion Avenue and Park Avenue West intersect, originally stood as St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. In 2012, the church disbanded as a congregation.
“St. Luke’s hoped something good would become of the building—they didn’t want it to become one more empty building in Mansfield,” said Lintern.
Crossroads Community Church expressed interest in using the building as an additional worship site, Lintern noted, and Crossroads made an offer to buy the building for $10,000.
“I found out about [the offer] and I thought wow that’s great…And I just, on a whim, a few days later went to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, and said, ‘That’s great that Crossroads is doing that. If anything should happen, I’d like to make the same offer,’” Lintern explained.
Not long after he made his offer, Crossroads back out, making Lintern the new owner of the building, Lintern stated.
His wife, Peggy, passed away one year prior to him purchasing the building. He said, “Because of Peggy’s death, I had been looking for something that I could hang my hat on for the rest of my life. And I didn’t know what that was, but I wanted it be something that I could get excited about.”
He added, “I didn’t need one more project, but what got me excited was the thought of living here, and that was truly a vision that God suggested, and I could see it right away.”
With a little bit of elbow grease and some help from his friends, Lintern made the transition into his new living space in about six weeks.
“The neat thing was that there was very little remodeling that needed to be done,” he said.
The building is comprised of two main areas: the sanctuary (built in 1891) and the Sunday school wing (built in 1926). Lintern performed most of the remodeling to the Sunday school wing. Originally that space included the pastor’s lounge, church office, sacristy, library, and restroom. Now the area includes a living room (equipped with its own unique basketball court), kitchen, and laundry room. There were also eight Sunday school classrooms on the upper level of the Sunday school wing, which Lintern remodeled into three bedrooms.
He also made some improvements to the sanctuary, which is currently utilized by Church Requel. Lintern said that two days after he moved into the building, Church Requel approached him to see if the congregation could use the sanctuary for worship services.
“That was very much a God thing,” Lintern stated. He said that he wanted a congregation to use the space for worship, and then on Christmas Eve of 2012, Church Requel held its first service in the sanctuary. “They have brought such wonderful energy to the building,” Lintern said.
Technically, a nonprofit entity called St. Luke’s Point of Grace owns the building. Lintern explained that he donated the building to St. Luke’s Point of Grace and that he now serves as the building’s “caretaker.”
Lintern has two sons and daughters-in-law—Steven and Anna and Mark and Amy. He also has a niece, Becky, who currently lives with him in what he called his “chome,” (church home).
Having always possessed a passion for history, Lintern especially appreciates the historical aspects attached to the building. “The building is so historical. It anchored the western end of downtown Mansfield for 130 years,” he said.
One of the historical characteristics Lintern noted is that the building is located off of the Lincoln Highway, (Park Avenue West), which was the first transcontinental highway in the U.S., established in 1913.
“My goal with history has always been to get people noticing things and then begin to understand why those things are there,” said Lintern.
In recent years, he has helped organize various historical activities and events, including those pertaining to Mansfield and Richland County’s bicentennial. Some of the events he has hosted in his home.
“I’m a hospitable person, so to me it’s fun to have 150 people show up at my place,” Lintern commented.
Every Saturday evening, he welcomes an average of 150 people into his home for a meal.
He said, “We’ve had a few weekends where we’ve had over 600 people come in the building for parties, concerts, weddings, and other events.”
He added, “I’m not trying to do as much as possible here, but I’m just making myself available and it’s really been fun.”
“St. Luke’s hoped something good would become of the building—they didn’t want it to become one more empty building in Mansfield,” said Paul Lintern.
