The Doubter
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Rebuild. Restore. Renew. Now, Rejoice! By Harry Anderson Mark your calendars now. Saturday evening, October 25. The Episcopal Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle. 6525 Inwood Road. Be there…ready to celebrate. You deserve it, and I’ll explain why in moment. When Terry and I first joined Saint Thomas, early in 2005, we heard a lot of buzzing and excitement going on. It was everywhere. The words “Rebuild. Restore. Renew.” were painted on the doors to the narthex. Jan Scogin was talking about “it” finally getting underway. Joe DeuPree was hawking tickets to a “final” fundraiser in the Parish Hall with what he promised would be a fabulous Mexican dinner (it was). Shelley Turner was coloring in the money-goal thermometer, inching ever closer to the Big Goal. And Father Waller was woefully mentioning that he and Bettye were about to be evicted and forced to become “trailer trash” for awhile. Was it really only three years ago that our dilapidated West Wing began its remarkable transformation from what some had called the “Bates Motel” into a showplace where the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church ate lunch last April? Yes, indeed. It’s a tribute to the people of Saint Thomas, and particularly to the hearty group that organized the project and managed it day by day, that this miracle came about. In hindsight, nobody could have foreseen how difficult the project would be. For instance, how bad the leaky roof really was and how much damage it had caused. How far beyond the West Wing the problems extended….to the roof of the church, the air-conditioning units, and on and on. How many budget-busting changes and additional repairs needed to be made. The bank loan we had to take out to pay for the unexpected extra costs. And need I mention our contractor? Umm, better not. Some began to wonder if it might not have been smarter and cheaper to demolish everything and start over. Perhaps, but thankfully we as a parish decided we didn’t want to lose the intimate feeling that our campus has, and the special connection it gives us to our past. Saint Thomas . . . may it always be the mega-church antidote! As the project neared completion, something wonderful began to happen. It really felt like a rebirth as we rediscovered the beautiful restored spaces, some of which hadn’t really been usable in years. It recalled the trek our parish made a decade before, when the Church building itself was restored and reopened after years of neglect. Our long-time members still told vivid stories of services held in the Parish Hall, while the Church itself sat forlorn, dark and uninviting. Contrast that with the light-filled, joyous space it is today, filled with our music, laughter and prayer. As the Rebuild-Restore-Renew project finally ended last summer it seemed as if we ourselves had been rebuilt, restored and renewed. We all felt enormous pride seeing our smallest members playing in the nursery. Children’s programs occurring in the North Room. Adult classes going on in the South Room. Community groups meeting in the evenings and on Saturdays. A vibrant, growing parish of thoughtful, inclusive Christians committed to peace and justice and doing God’s will. And it was capped off when our Presiding Bishop and 400 other guests paid us a visit last April and lavished praise on our parish. At last, we’re able to say proudly that our parish buildings reflect the same sense of hope, optimism, community and commitment we all feel. Which leads me to October 25. Ever since the Rebuild-Restore-Renew campaign began, it has been envisioned that we would hold a big celebration the day the construction was finished and we had enough money pledged to pay off our bank debt. So it’s with great pride I tell you that, as of this summer, we have enough capital pledges in hand to pay the remaining debt from the project. We will retire the loan on schedule next June – maybe even sooner if all our pledges come in on time or before (for all of you who have made a pledge….that’s a hint). And then we will be a debt-free parish again – a day so many of us have looked forward to. We are not, by any means, finished with our work on the Saint Thomas campus, however. The landscaping project remains, but the Vestry has decided to address it as a multi-year project beginning in 2009. You’ll hear much more about that later. For now, mark your calendars for October 25 and come to celebrate, “burn the mortgage,” and rededicate our West Wing to the glory and service of God. # # # | permalink Next |
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