SALEM — Catherine "Kay" Piemonte has just finished a monumental work, "Salem's Church With the Lighted Steeple," a 300-page history of the Tabernacle Church.
The retired Salem High School librarian and church historian spent more than a year reviewing old records from the church vaults and piecing together the history of a church that traces its roots to 1629.
"I am not the author," she said modestly.
She is, however, the editor who pulled together the historic documents, some of which have not been seen for years. She also wrote several sections.
Tabernacle Church, which split from The First Church of Salem in 1735, has been located on the corner of Washington and Federal streets since 1777. The current church, with the towering white steeple, is the third building on that spot.
This was the church of Timothy Pickering, secretary of war under George Washington. Pickering was part of a small group that broke away from Tabernacle to found the South Church in 1775.
This is also a church that gets visitors from around the country to see the "sacred ground" where, in 1812, the first Christian missionaries from America were commissioned. The church still has the bench where the missionaries sat.
The church history is only the latest gift the 79-year-old Piemonte has given to Tabernacle. She also quilted an altar cloth and sewn two minister's stoles.
"Kay has made a huge footprint in this church," said the Rev. Laura Biddle.
The book will be on sale every Sunday at Tabernacle.
