St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Wiscasset is pausing its efforts to save its steeple as members determine if they need to focus on preserving programs instead, a leading member said.

The $14,000 spend on recent work has probably bought the steeple a few more years, senior warden Timothy Cowing said. However, there are no immediate plans to finish the project aimed at preserving a well-known feature of the Wiscasset skyline.

“Not at this point. We're sitting back and taking a breather,” Cowing said May 3. The Dresden man, a member of St. Philip’s for 30 years, cited two reasons the church is holding off on the remainder of the work: for one, the church was unable to raise the remaining $20,000 it would take. In fact, the church tapped its endowment for nearly $8,000 of the first $14,000 phase that's been completed. The other $6,000 came from donations and fundraising.

Second, with membership on the decline, members may decide their efforts are better spent on keeping the church’s outreach programs going, rather than investing more into the building.

“We’re trying to figure out if a steeple is more important than the outreach,” Cowing said.

St. Philip's is a very mission-oriented church, helping to feed and clothe about 150 people a week, he said. It maintains a bargain basement, the Help Yourself Shelf food pantry, and works with First Congregational Church in Wiscasset on the local Feed Our Scholars program that sends food home with students on the weekend.

The programs at St. Philip’s take money and volunteers, with the need for volunteers perhaps the greater of the two, Cowing said. Dedicated volunteers have put in years of service to the programs, and now need others to come forward to donate their time, he said.

“We’ve always been there for the community, and now it’s our turn to ask the community to be there for us.”

Whatever the future holds for the steeple project, Cowing is optimistic about the future of the church and its programs.

“We really have a lot of hope and faith (that) we’ll continue,” he said. “We hope to be here another 100 years.”

The potential financial decisions that are being weighed will not prevent the church from holding its popular Strawberry Festival, Cowing said. Plans are underway for the next installment of the annual tradition that helps usher in summer in Wiscasset.