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This is From the Archives, where we present something from our extensive collection of archival photos, records and all manner of materials dating back to when the church was First Methodist Episcopal, to First Methodist, to Church of the Savior, to St. Paul's to Crossroads.
The unofficial Chronicle Weekly theme this week is signs, flowers and the general care of the north face of our building - as well as family, life and death.
Thanks to a recent generous donation, we have some beautiful flowers that everyone walking and driving by on Tusc can see. This side of the building has almost always had a sign and/or flowers that have been changed and maintained by countless church members and staff, probably going all the way back to 1883.
Today's archives pictures come from two different eras, showing how different and also how similar such signs and flowers have been.
The first picture was taken February 5, 1967, the day of a youth service (when the church was First Methodist Church). You can see that, it being February, the flowers under the sign are instead greens appropriate for winter. You can also see that Debbie Spees was mentioned, presumably as being one of the leaders of the youth service. Debbie (Debra) Spees was the sister of Stan Spees. Stan Spees was a longtime choir member who was featured in a recent Archives section of this newsletter helping to install our Wesley Trumpets. Stan was eventually married to Joanne, whose memorial service this church will host in October. Debra, Stan and Joanne, who all spent much of their decades of life within the walls of our building, are all now members of the choir eternal.
The second picture is of the same part of the church, with the same sign showing a different church name, being tended to by Royal Odell, another venerable member for decades. There is no date for this Repository picture, but we can assume that it was taken sometime in this century before the merger of Church of the Savior and St Paul's to form Crossroads. We can also guess it was probably taken on a Fall day due to the leaves on the ground and Royal wearing a coat and hat. Royal entered life eternal in 2021 at the age of 92.
As beautiful as our building's windows, signs, flowers, and stone edifice may be, there is nothing more beautiful than the congregation within the building. A congregation is defined by families, friendships and service and dedication to the church and to each other. When we worship in the present every Sunday at 10 am, we continue that dedication of all of those families and friends who came before us into the future.
(Click to open the images in new windows.)
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