Serendipity for 99 cents

God may work in mysterious ways, but this time he was online.

The Church of Jesus Christ on County Road 316 near Gordonville lacked a steeple when it was built several years ago.

One day, Jackie Mueller, the wife of the church's pastor, Delbert Mueller, was listening to a radio swap program when a caller said he had a steeple for sale that could be viewed on eBay. He wanted $2,000 for it.

Jackie logged on to eBay, but during her search of steeples, she found a much cheaper one listed. The asking price was 99 cents.

"When I got to looking and found this one, I asked my husband, 'I wonder why he wants only 99 cents?'" she said.

Jackie e-mailed the seller, David Featherston of Indianapolis, Ind., who said his Nazarene congregation was in the process of building a new church, and its current steeple wouldn't fit. It was either sell it or destroy it -- so Featherston listed the steeple on eBay for 99 cents.

Jackie submitted the minimum bid.

"I expected it to go up -- but no one else bid," she said.

The couple left early one August morning for Indianapolis, claimed their 20-foot tall Fiberglass steeple, gave Featherston more than the 99 cents to cover his eBay fees and as a donation toward his own church, then headed home with the steeple in a trailer behind their vehicle. They made the trip in one day.

Church members, neighbors and friends volunteered to clean and make some minor repairs to the steeple. The Muellers called Advance Tree Service to hoist the steeple onto the church's roof. A bystander that day asked the couple how much Advance was going to charge them for the service, and said he would write the check to cover it.

"When I asked him how much, he said 'no charge,'" Jackie said.

In reality, the steeple cost a little more than 99 cents. With the cost of the trip, the donation and incidental expenses, the Muellers paid a little more than $400. The radio-show steeple ultimately sold for about $1,400.

"We priced a new steeple," Delbert Mueller said. "They're in the $5,000-plus range, and that's out of our reach right now."

The Church of Jesus Christ has been at 721 County Road 316 since May 2002. About 30 members belong to the church, which had formerly been on Oklahoma Street in Jackson.

Helping with the installation of the steeple were Albert Sadler, David Seabaugh, Henry Gonzalez, Tim Sadler, Ray Bollinger, Wilbert Fairless, Charles Retherford and Aaron Sadler.

"I feel like the Lord gave it to us for a reason," Jackie Mueller said.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160