Former church building provides for duck hunters
In the small community of Humnoke, 20 minutes west of Stuttgart, a United Methodist Church has been transformed into the Sanctuary Lodge to attract waterfowlers to the Duck Hunting Capital of the World. Owners Brooke and Clay Parker say they redeveloped the space to create a haven for hunters during the upcoming season.
“The building was built in 1935, it’s always been in the community,” says Clay Parker. “It was either going to get torn down, burnt down or painted camouflage. We wanted to make sure it stayed original to its intent as a community space and maintain the integrity of the building.”
Delta Roots
Clay and Brooke Parker were no strangers to the area. Brooke grew up in Stuttgart, where she currently runs Sugartown Mercantile with her siblings, an “everyday store” offering handpicked selections of home goods, gifts and treats, most tailored to the duck hunters who live in and visit the area.
Clay was raised in Carlisle, starting work from an early age as a duck guide and eventually joining his father as a row crop farmer in the nearby community of Hamilton. He and Brooke still reside in Carlisle, 20 minutes north of Humnoke. He grew up attending Hamilton UMC, which shared a pastor and holiday services with Humnoke UMC.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, service attendance at both the Humnoke and Hamilton UMCs dwindled, leading the churches to combine services, alternating between the two locations. Eventually, membership at Humnoke UMC was down to one couple, Gerald and Phyllis Snider. When Phyllis passed away in 2024, her husband gave local church leadership his blessing to combine the congregations officially, leaving the Humnoke branch empty.
“They’d been the cornerstones of this church for 70 years,” Clay says. “By merging, we were able to maintain local control of the building, making sure stakeholders in the community had a voice with what happened in the community.”
Brooke and Clay put a bid in to buy the church building shortly after it was put up for sale.
“In these smaller communities like Humnoke, if somebody isn’t living in it, they usually end up being somebody’s house they rent out for duck hunting in the fall and that’s all it’s used for,” Clay says. “That’s probably what would’ve happened to this building if it didn’t fall in first.”
The early site work wasn’t glamorous. The foundation of the old church needed care, along with the landscaping. Clay recalls his first day working at the church on a rented mini-excavator, when he fielded questions from passing neighbors throughout the day.
“We had four or five people stop by and ask what we were doing,” he says.
Adds Brooke, “Seeing the character stripped, with no acknowledgement of the history of the place, was the fear.”
Preserving the Place
Over its 90-year history, the building had settled on its pillars unevenly; when Brooke and Clay started working on it, its south side sat about 5 inches lower than it had been in 1935, and the north side was 3 to 4 inches lower. A wet spring delayed foundation work, pushing the couple’s timeline back by several weeks.
In the interim, they started demolition with a clear goal in mind: preserving as much of the original wood and structural elements of the church building as possible.
“As old as the building was, it was in fantastic shape as far as the wood goes,” Clay says. “There was one spot with termite damage in the corner of the building where the annex met the sanctuary and some dry rot where the chimney came out of the roof. But that was the only structural damage.”
(Photo by Mike Kemp)
The church was originally just one room, holding 50-75 people for a typical service. In the ‘70s, an extension was added, with a kitchenette, half-bathroom, fellowship hall, Sunday school room and central heating and air installed to match the building’s current profile.
“It had all lime green carpets, straight out of 1972,” Clay laughs. “But really, it was just a little white country church, just like you think of in a rural community.”
About a quarter of the original hardwood floors weren’t able to be saved, Clay says, and piecing the wood that was able to be reused back together in a way that was attractive was a challenge.
“None of the wood wore the same way throughout the years,” Clay says.
“We had to get a little creative and tile the kitchen floors,” Brooke says.
Besides the wood, the Parkers also held on to practical and decorative elements inside the church, like a wood fire stove, some of the pews, the preacher’s chair, an attendance board with a list of the last group to attend church in the building, and the church’s stained glass windows.
“The 10 o’clock sun in the sanctuary with these stained glass windows is gorgeous. It filters the light perfectly. When you were in here for services, it was magical looking,” Brooke says. “I don’t know if you have the same spiritual effect, but you can definitely still experience the beauty.”
New Life
The couple rebuilt the back end of the building to make space for two large bunkrooms. They also reconfigured the space for two full bathrooms plus a laundry room, mudroom and bigger kitchen. Contractor Tim House built a large dining table from reclaimed floor joists, one of the Sanctuary Lodge’s standout features.
“I swear it’s every bit of 800 pounds,” Clay says.
Brooke also helped source new decor from Facebook Marketplace, her family members and even Harding University.
“Our couch and chairs are from the Harding dean’s office,” she says. “Between Clay’s hunting habits and my father’s, we had plenty of taxidermy. I’ve been collecting artwork to put throughout the space. And we’re using a lot of the same elements that were still here, like pulpit chairs and pews lining the south wall. We wanted it to still resemble pieces of the old church.”
She designed a gallery wall which they’re filling with historic photos from past church members and their families.
“We want to display those memories. We hope to cover the walls with people’s weddings, funerals, reunions, graduations, pictures from Mr. Gerald (Snider),” she says. “That’s how I really want to honor everything that’s gone on in this church for the last 90 years.”
The Sanctuary Lodge accepted its first guests the second week of December ‘25. In addition to serving as a lodge for hunters in the winter, the couple is also hoping the space will be used as an events center by local residents.
“Bridal showers, baby showers, small family reunions,” Brooke says. “People could use this space with a company to have a small corporate dinner.”
As they prepare for the upcoming season, the Parkers are adding finishing touches in the property’s backyard, like a fire pit, deck, garden lights and a grill. The Sanctuary Lodge can sleep 12 and is available for bookings now through Airbnb, with more information available on the Lodge’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Clay says they’re looking forward to sharing the special history of the Sanctuary Lodge with more guests this duck season and in the coming years.
“We wanted to acknowledge the history and preserve what we could and usher this space into its next life,” he says. “We didn’t want to see its doors being closed with its end being as Humnoke UMC. We wanted to help it be reimagined but not stripped of all its history.”
