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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The first time Paul Morgan met Sally Ball, they were standing amid the dusty archives at Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church.

Almost two years later, after showing up from separate churches to help get the 100-year-old building back on its feet, the two were married amid the Christmas decorations in Magnolia Avenue’s sanctuary on December 30, 2023.

“There was no reason to put it off,” says Paul Morgan. “Why go into the new year?”

The widow and widower were both drawn to the East Knoxville church to volunteer when they learned how the building is in need of extensive cleaning and repair, even while thriving ministries in the church continue to serve the community.

Paul Morgan, age 79, is a member at Powell United Methodist Church. He was already involved in a homeless ministry and was visiting a sick man in the motel next to Magnolia Avenue one day, when he noticed people carrying out a lot of debris from the church.  

Paul went over on a Sunday morning in fall 2020 to see what was happening at the church and struck up a conversation with Magnolia Avenue’s pastor, the Rev. Tim Jackson. “By Monday, I was at the church with a shovel,” Paul says.

Sally Ball Morgan, age 68, is a member of Central United Methodist Church but she grew up at Magnolia Avenue. “That’s where I was born, christened, confirmed, and got my third-grade Bible,” she said. 

Sally’s family transferred to Fountain City United Methodist Church when she was in high school. Later, she married a man from Central United Methodist Church and raised her family there. Yet she continued to follow her childhood church and was sad to see how the congregation dwindled and the building declined over the years.

When Sally saw the news that Magnolia Avenue had reopened after a period of closure and needed help, she found Jackson’s contact info. She subsequently showed up at the church in February 2022. That’s when she met Paul.

“He showed me the work that had been done, and I just gasped,” said Sally, referring to the cleaning and repairs that were needed or in progress on the building. “Then he showed me these long tables piled high with documents and photos. I went home and started calling people.”

Sally called six people who had history at Magnolia Avenue. For the next year, Sally and her friends met on Thursdays to clean and organize the church’s photos and other historical items.

“Sally and her friends were children here at Magnolia Avenue in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” said the Rev. Tim Jackson. “And so when Magnolia reopened, they were able to come alongside us and to create a room filled with a history of the glory days of Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church.”

Meanwhile, Paul worked on refurbishing the first and second floor of Magnolia Avenue. Paul and Sally got to know each other while working in the building. By the time trunk or treat rolled around in October 2022, Paul came over to sit and talk with Sally in the open trunk of her car while they gave out candy to the kids.

In November 2022, Paul called Sally while she was at her job as a nurse. “He said he had a box of stuff to give me for the archives, and would I like to go to dinner?” Sally remembers. Paul and Sally shared a pizza that night and talked and talked.

“Those conversations got longer and longer,” Sally says. Often, the couple talked about their churches. Paul grew up at Second United Methodist Church and was a member at Middlebrook Pike United Methodist for several years, until he and his late wife moved to the north side of the city and joined Powell. Sally's family has generations of ties at Magnolia Avenue, where her parents were married and where four of the stained-glass windows are memorials to her relatives.

When Christmastime 2022 came and the choirs from Central United Methodist Church and Powell United Methodist Church joined to do a concert series, Sally told Paul about it. “When do you want to go?” Paul asked.

The relationship deepened but the couple didn’t tell their friends or family for months. Finally, one day during the Sunday evening worship at Magnolia Avenue, Jackson served Holy Communion and asked the couples in the church to come forward first so that he could pray with them.

Sally nudged Paul. “Do you want to go?”

When the pastor saw Sally and Paul approach together for communion, he asked if they knew the line was for couples. “They both smiled and nodded,” Jackson remembers. “That was a moment of great joy for me.”

“Tim about fainted,” Paul remembers, laughing.

In September 2023, Paul and Sally were watching a University of Tennessee football game together when Paul told Sally to go get her calendar.

“Why?” Sally asked. “We’re going to set a date,” Paul said. “For what?” Sally asked. “To get married,” Paul said. It wasn't hard to decide where the wedding would happen.

On December 30, Paul and Sally showed up early at Magnolia Avenue on their wedding day. They were wearing jeans so they could clean up the church before the ceremony, since the building is an active place with medical, food and clothing ministries serving a homeless and low-income community. At Jackson’s request, Paul and Sally had already decorated the grand sanctuary for Advent. They also had invested in repairing the sanctuary’s lighting.

Paul and Sally were married by Jackson on a Saturday afternoon in front of about 25 joyful family members including children and grandchildren. The next day, the couple went to Sunday worship followed by dinner at Magnolia Avenue and were congratulated by the 40 or so community members in attendance.

“One thing that Paul said is the Lord put us together,” Sally said. “The Lord made this happen.”

“Both of us found out that we had prayed for somebody,” Paul added.

The couple is looking forward to a future trip to England and Wales, where their respective ancestors are from, and to working together in ministry – especially at Magnolia Avenue.

“For me, Paul and Sally are part of the miracle of the rebirth of Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church,” Jackson said.

“There’s always something to do there,” Paul said.

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Holston Conference includes 545 United Methodist churches in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and North Georgia, with main offices in Alcoa, Tennessee. Sign up for a free email subscription to The Call.