Monday, August 18, 2008

Faith in hard times


As my father walked to church one cold, winter Sabbath morning early in the 1930s in Milton, Wisconsin, he, along with the rest of the congregation found the Seventh Day Baptist church building burning. A chimney fire was apparently responsible. A few items, including the church records, were rescued, and some others, including a cracked church bell, were recovered, but the building was a total loss. It was the depths of the Great Depression but the members decided to build again - and to build with the best architecture, materials and craftsmanship they could manage. An experienced church architect was employed [one who had designed many Lutheran churches in the area] and plans were drawn. The conceptual drawing looked like this [click on the images to enlarge]:

Architect's rendering of the proposed building
Much of the work on the building was done by members. When this picture was taken, constuction was well underway:

The front of the sanctuary when completed:

This was the church building in which I worshipped while growing up - in fact, until well after I graduated from college. When I was young, the congregation still included many of those who had sacrificed in the most difficult economic times in order to create this place.

Although it has been modified in some ways since then, it remains a beautiful environment in which to worship.

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