Hugh Brady was born
in Limerick, Ireland in 1520. He was my great x 12 grandfather. At some point in life Hugh was ordained and
eventually appointed by Queen Elizabeth to serve as the protestant bishop of
the Diocese of Meath. An assessment of
the diocese in 1571 reveals the only thing in worse condition than the clergy
(who were uneducated, thieves, and prone to violence) is the condition of the
churches. Of Meath’s 243 parishes, 66
are deemed to be in good or reasonable repair, 9 are categorized as
indifferently repaired, and 158 are considered to be somewhat or altogether
ruined. Grandpa Brady had his work cut
out for him.
I share this little
piece of family history to make a singular point: church buildings from every
time and era require maintenance.
Without constant attention they fall into disrepair. Our second church building (and first church
of any kind in downtown Suffolk) ceased to function after the Revolutionary War. By the turn of the century in 1800 it was in
such pitiful condition the Vestry reckoned it needed to be torn down. Work began on our current building in
1892. How different were those
times? The Vestry minutes from April
1894 indicate the building committee was instructed to have the church wired
for electric lights. The first service
in our present space is held on June 16, 1895, Pentecost Sunday. All agree it is a magnificent structure inside
and out.
New building, no
problems… right? Wrong. In 1901 (just six years after opening), the
rector calls a meeting of the Vestry to state many have not been attending
services because the church is cold on Sundays.
He repeats this complaint during the following year’s heating season and
notes it is even worse due to a shortage of coal. By 1903 money is being raised for a new
heating system. A new furnace is added a
year later. Then, in 1905, with our
church celebrating just the 10th anniversary of its opening, the
rector reports – wait for it – the roof is leaking! From there on the Vestry record is a series
of building related problems from the organ to the windows to the heating
system to a leaking roof.
This morning, as we
gather to celebrate the reopening of our Tower Entrance, we remember the solemn
responsibility we have to keep our building and grounds in good condition. This is, after all, is a house of God, and
God deserves nothing less than our best effort.
And we give thanks we are not left on our own to undertake this
challenge. We are blessed with an
endowment to help defer our major maintenance projects. All sizes of gifts – both small and
substantial – have been contributed by our ancestors in the faith to build this
fund and our Vestry and parish leaders work diligently to shepherd it so it
will be a resource for generations to come.
We are also blessed
to be in relationship with a number of talented contractors, vendors, and
professionals who go above and beyond in the services they provide to St.
Paul’s. You see many of them listed in
today’s bulletin and some are here with us at this service. As we put together this list I was amazed by
how many different people contribute to the upkeep of our facility. When these folks come here to work on a
project I trust we are in good hands. I
sense the pride they take in their work and it is obvious they are giving us
their best effort. Some workers will
take you to the cleaners. The people who
come here take good care of us and for this I am grateful.
Our Tower Entrance
has been closed for some time now. It
has prevented us from using the Balcony and from ringing the bell. The absence of our bell put on hold a
cherished tradition among our children: ringing it twelve times at the end of the
service. Bells have always been an
important feature of church life. Moses’
brother Aaron, the founder of the priestly order, had bells sewn into the hem
of his robe and they rang out constantly has he led the people in worship and
prayer.
Although we don’t
know with certainty the first church to have a bell, we do know they were in general
use throughout England by the 7th century. Bells were rung at various points of the day
to call the faithful to prayer. The ringing
of a church bell announced a birth, a marriage, or a death. It was held the sound of a church’s bell drove
off evil spirits. Church bells were also
used to announce the time of day and to sound various kinds of alarm. In short, their sound provided the community
with all manner of information and for centuries were every bit as important
the community as the internet is for us.
Our
church bell was cast in 1860 by Meneely’s Bell Company of West Troy, NY. It hung at our fourth church site (where the
Obici Foundation House now stands) and was moved here before the opening
service in 1895. Meneely has cast
thousands of bells which can be found all over the world. In addition to the ones made for churches,
they make bells for schools, factories, steamboats, ships, fire engines, and
more. Our bell weighs somewhere between
100-400 pounds and is suspended from a yoke Meneely patented about 150 years
ago. The company’s promotional material
indicates inscriptions can be added to a bell at no extra cost, but ours has
none. Some bells are given names (such
as “Old Tom” in Oxford), but there is no evidence our bell was ever named. But, today it is back in service.
We do
not come here to worship our building.
This is the place where we congregate to worship God. This place, like the words of our liturgy and
the tune of our hymns, assists us as we seek to enter into God’s presence. If old grandpa Brady was here with us to
celebrate today, I think he would sleep a little better knowing one of his
parishes has been restored to good repair.
