CULLMAN, AL — A routine audit of First Presbyterian Church of Cullman has surfaced a $4,200 designated fund bearing the name of Dorothea Fennick, a person no current member, elder, deacon, or staff employee can identify, remember, or confirm ever existed.

The fund, which has accrued modest interest since at least 1987, carries no accompanying documentation, charter, or instructions. The line item simply reads “Dorothea Fennick Memorial — Do Not Touch,” a directive that has, by all accounts, been faithfully honored for 39 years.

“We ran it by the oldest member we have, and she said the name rings a bell but she’s not certain,” said church treasurer Dale Ostrowski, 61. “Which is almost worse than not ringing a bell at all.”

The finance committee convened an emergency session to determine whether the funds could be released for general use. The meeting adjourned after two hours without resolution, as members agreed that spending a memorial fund on someone who might have existed “felt like exactly the kind of thing you’d regret.”

“Whoever Dorothea Fennick was, she clearly meant a great deal to someone. We feel that should count for something, even if we can’t say what.”

“We checked the burial records at three local cemeteries,” added Associate Pastor Lynn Bethel, 47. “Nothing conclusive. But we did find a Fennick who died in 1952, which only opens more questions.”

The committee has tabled the matter until September, at which point it is expected to be tabled again.

At press time, a handwritten note reading “Dorothea would have wanted it used for the organ” had been slipped anonymously under the treasurer’s office door, and the congregation was no closer to knowing who left it.