Church & Church: Sawing High Quality Appalachian Lumber For Nearly A Century
Virgil McKinley Church founded V.M. Church & Sons in 1936. He started as a small production sawmill serving their local community. Of VM’s children, his son Bruce Church carried on the legacy of the sawmill business into 1993, where he partnered with his sons Kin and Mark, today known as Church & Church Lumber Company. Brothers Kin and Mark successfully led the business for many years, for which it flourished, expanded into new markets and developed lasting relationships. Throughout their 90-year legacy, Church & Church has evolved into a high-grade mill, making over 25 million board feet per year, serving clients nationally and internationally. Today, Mark’s son Sebastian continues to carry on the family legacy, managing all of the company’s operations.
Pictured is fourth-generation Church & Church operational manager Sebastian Church.
The business originally focused on white pine products, serving the burgeoning furniture markets for which the foothills of North Carolina were known until the turn of the century. As the company has grown and expanded into different markets, they were afforded opportunities to manufacture more hardwood products. Church & Church has four divisions, including the sawmill, dry kiln facility, air drying facility and planer mill. Together, this allows them to produce and deliver over 25 million board feet of Appalachian hardwood to customers around the world for applications ranging from furniture to wide-plank flooring and beyond.
One key evolution in their hardwood products is the ability to provide high-quality Rift and Quartered White Oak, Red Oak and Walnut, customizable to each customer’s unique specifications.
According to Sebastian, “These products are not as easy to come by, and there are a lot of manufacturers that would probably say, it is going to take a long time to acquire that, but we want to make sure we supply those needs and serve those kinds of customers in a timely manner.” By providing made-to-order options, they have become a significant supplier of Rift and Quartered lumber, producing over 350,000 board feet per month. They grade, rip, chop and categorize lumber to cater specifically to high-end flooring, cabinetry, mouldings and more.
It’s this strong foundation combined with a willingness to evolve and innovate that has helped them meet market demands even in the most challenging seasons. The impact of the Great Recession and the collapse of the housing market in 2008 and 2009 cannot be overstated. Church & Church had to adjust from running two shifts to just one. Per Sebastian, “We didn’t let that discourage us. We didn’t let it compromise the quality of the products that we offered. Instead, we invested in ourselves and upgraded our equipment and our efficiencies.” Despite today’s challenges, they are able to produce more in a single shift than they could with two in the past. For a 90-year-old family business, they have never been afraid to adjust to market demands and develop solutions that meet the ever-evolving demands of their customers.
Church & Church believes strongly in the importance of leaving the age-old forests of Appalachia better than they found them.
As their market expands and demand increases, Church & Church has invested in top-of-the-line equipment to meet their needs. This includes two custom-sized Salem Band Mills with a Cooper End Dogging Carriage and Lewis Controls, a Nicholson Ring Debarker, an MDI Metal Detector, a Cleereman Top Saw over a 56-inch circle saw with a Corley Carriage, a Valley Optimized Edger, a McDonough Resaw and a USNR Scanner.
THE FOUNDATION that my great-grandfather laid when he built this company is the reason that we are still here today. There were certain principles that he instilled in the business, and we have not deviated from those. We maintain the same integrity and pride in our products that we have since the beginning of our heritage in 1936.”
– Sebastian Church, partner, Church & Church Lumber Co.
The quality of their products is solely determined by the quality of the logs acquired for manufacturing.
Their young, dedicated and well-educated team is selective about the procurement and manufacturing process. “My brother, Tyler Church, manages the procurement end of the business,” said Sebastian. “He makes sure that we scale every log that comes into the mill, and we take the time to show the loggers how they can bring in a higher-grade log, which in turn will generate more value to them in the future.” This has enabled them to establish procurement partnerships throughout North Carolina and surrounding states.
One of the core principles driving everything Church & Church does is stewardship. Their team believes strongly in the importance of leaving the age-old forests of Appalachia better than they found them. By employing expert foresters, their team ensures that they will continue to be able to procure high-quality timber and produce high-grade lumber for generations to come.
Pictured is a lumber pack with the Select Hardwoods logo.
The bottom line for Sebastian is this: “We aren’t trying to compete with the high production, low quality, commodity-oriented lumber manufacturers. The corner of the market that we serve is very niche. Understanding who our clients are and what they make has allowed us to be selective about what we are producing and putting in the marketplace.” For customers who want proprietary grades, they schedule production orders, which are entered into the manufacturing process and shipped to each client. As a result, they are trusted by several high-end domestic customers.
Church & Church manufactures Appalachian hardwoods ranging from 4-inch and wider widths, 5-feet and longer lengths, and 0.5-inch through 12/4 thicknesses. They have 480,000 board feet of drying capacity through the use of SII and BolDesign Dry Kilns. Their kiln-dried division is marketed as Select Hardwoods with the logo painted on each pack just before it is shipped out.
Pictured is an overhead view of Church & Church Lumber Co. in Wilkesboro, NC.
Sebastian and his cousin, Mason Church, have partnered to create an export brand called Church Hardwood Lumber LLC. It serves international markets as far away as Europe, the Middle East and Asia. International sales make up approximately 14 percent of their total revenue. Sebastian noted, “We have great customers around the world, and we want to continue to build our relationships with them, just like we do with our customers here in North America. Our place in the export market is important to us.”
Church & Church also owns a planer mill and cut-up operation that produces surfaced hardwoods that can be precision end-trimmed and ripped to width.
They produce a variety of hardwood blanks that are utilized in a variety of purposes, such as drumsticks, flooring and moulding, etc. Furthermore, the planer mill division serves a variety of industrial needs, including farming, steel, construction, pallets and more. They use a Pendu 4300 Chop/Gain Rip Line with Stacker in order to manufacture cut stock. They also utilize a Newman 382 Planer that gives them full S2S capabilities.
Pictured is an example of Church & Church’s Rift and Quartered capabilities.
Church & Church is a member of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc., American Hardwood Export
Council and the National Hardwood Lumber Association and contributes to the Real American Hardwood Coalition.
You can find out more about Church & Church by visiting Church and Church Lumber Company on
LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram or on their website churchandchurchlumber.com.
