Steeple:
Faith can move Mountains
Do you have faith to move a
mountain? Well, I know how to turn a
mole hill into a mountain, but faith to move a mountain? This summer, as the carpenters and painters
worked in extreme heat, to restore our historic steeple, this passage kept
coming to mind. Faith to move
mountains. And then I would add in my
head, or faith to restore a steeple. For
this is so much more than repairing and painting a steeple. This is a story of years and years of
conversations, time invested, and careful discernment as to the priorities in
the ministries of the congregation.
So, although it was not a burning
bush with God’s voice speaking to us, we did have a sign from the steeple that
it was time to really prioritize its restoration. A few years ago, a board fell from it. Yikes, what if it had hit someone? Are there more loose boards? From that point forward, small steps starting
moving us to today. The session approved
a capital campaign fund to restore the Steeple.
A small group of members were elected at a Congregational Meeting to
begin the process of receiving estimates.
Deeper conversations were held with our session and deacons discerning
the ways we could use our treasure could be used to offset the costs for the steeple’s
restoration. Then, a group formed that
decided to apply for a historic grant.
This dedicated group, became the Steeple committee, and pulled
information from a previous grant application, updated information, sought
estimates, and submitted the grant to the county. Only to find out that a lawsuit against the
county made religious organizations ineligible to receive these grants. Defeat!
Except, this is a story of faith
moving mountains, or in this case, restoring a steeple. Back to the drawing board. We had not yet officially started a campaign
for the steeple, although we had already received significant gifts towards it
restoration. The energy seemed to be
here, could we really do this without the grant money to help us? The steeple committee decided to take that
leap of faith. There were no guarantees
of future grants, and we had received an amazing gift from the estate of a
church member towards the building.
Maybe God was talking to us.
The Steeple committee set a budget
without really knowing what would be found once the carpenters got up to the
bell tower, although we did borrow a drone with a nice camera to get some areal
views of the steeple. Again, taking a
step out on faith, we moved forward. As
pledges came in, the energy increased and the reality of not only restoring the
Steeple but being able to pay for this project all seemed to be in
alignment. A report was brought back to
the Steeple committee and the session that there was significant wood damage, a
lot of water damage, and that there was going to be a lot more carpentry work
than originally thought. Move forward,
let’s do this, and do it right. Faith
moving mountains.
Our original two week time frame
turned into three and the rain pushed us to four. The heat caused the lift to basically melt
the driveway over on the kitchen side of the building, the rain caused it to
sink into the mud, and a tow was needed.
Obstacles, hurdles, but no roadblocks, but would it be finished within
the month lease of the lift? More
conversations on additional costs of the lift.
And a wee bit of fear entered in as we wondered how much extra costs
would begin to accumulate. Without fail,
the last day of the lift lease, work was finished! It seemed impossible, but faith truly did
move this mountain or in this case, restored a steeple.
So, what is so important about a
steeple? I think I said on more than one
occasion, let’s just remove it.
Everything right now seems to be about finding your why. What was our
why? Well, it’s historic, it’s been a
part of this church building for over two hundred years. It’s part of our identity here in this
community. There is nothing Biblical
about steeples, but they did serve two significant purposes in the past. Before people had watches, the church bells,
located in the steeple, were used to call the community together, not just for
worship, but for meetings and other community affairs. The bells needed to be up high enough for
the sound to carry across the region.
Now, our steeple does not have a clock, but some church steeples, also
have a clock that was used by the community and again, it needed to be up high
enough so people had greater access to see it.
But we don’t need a town clock or bells calling us together, we all have
watches or phones that we use for telling time.
So, other than its historical
meaning, what does a steeple mean in this modern world? Why not just remove it? Well, as a people of faith, we often use
symbols to signify deep spiritual meaning.
We mark our worship space with the symbol of the cross, the baptism
font, the communion table, but we are people that are not just to gather inside
a building for worship, but a people called to go out into the world. The steeple is outside, it is out in the
world, our bell rings out and whether you are someone that attends church or
not, it is a reminder, a reminder that faithful people do gather, that people
in this community do trust in God, that hope moves us forward to ensure that we
have a strong and healthy community to live and raise our families. For some, a steeple might just be a reminder
of past days, but for others, it can be a symbol of hope, a symbol reaching up
towards heaven, reminding us to pray, reminding us that God is at work, not
just a thing of the past, but is currently present in our lives. Some people might just drive by the church
and say, finally, they have painted that thing, they won’t know the faith it
took to make this day a reality. But we
know, we now we have a story to share.
The steeple I once said, let’s just remove it, now is a symbol to move
of faith, a symbol of faith moving a mountain, a story of faith overcoming
defeat and rising up with determination that together, we can make miracles
happen. Amen.
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