SIDE BY SIDE
Pointing to Heaven and to Christ The story behind the storm-damaged steeple The fierce storm that ravaged through the Midwest on August 10 had one strong and surprising image—the College Church steeple. Images like the one pictured here were the main feature on the local news broadcasts that night and in the print and web editions of local and national newspapers. National news services picked up the images as well. In the days that followed, we began to hear from congregants and family members across the country reporting that they had seen the damage in their own news outlets. The day after the storm, repair companies took the steeple down, covered the damaged roof for short-term protection, and the work began on roof repairs to the Sanctuary building. College Church volunteers showed up ready to work. They cleared trees and worked together to clean up the debris. While it would be easy to think that the steeple has always been atop the original building since it was constructed, long-time church members and the church archives tell a different story. Ray Smith, a church member for almost 65 years, recalls a slice of College Church history. “In the 1930s a steeple was approved by College Church, but the money apparently was diverted to aid Depression era needy. In 1979, my wife’s mother, Mrs. Charles Blanchard (Lillian) Weaver, spearheaded the initiative for a fund drive to buy a steeple in honor of Dr. Evan Welsh, a much-loved College Church pastor and retired chaplain at Wheaton College.” It was a fitting honor since Evan Welsh was the pastor in the 1930s when the steeple was first approved. Ed VanDerMolen chaired the building/expansion committee back in the late 1970s and early 80s when the steeple came up again. “Tom Kay was the one who recommended us to consider it again,” Ed recalled, and then added, “The original church was built in 1933, but the congregation chose not to spend the money on a steeple at that time, but to do it at a later time. And no one ever got around to it.” Until the spring of 1979 when a down payment was made to Campbellsville Steeples (now called Campbellsville Industries) in Campbellsville, Kentucky, to design and build the steeple for College Church. According to its website, Campbellsville Industries are the “Steeple People” and pioneered the prefabricated church steeple more than 50 years ago.
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Ed and another College Church regular Jim Joy pieced all the connection pieces together. “My first thought when I saw the pictures is that we didn’t tighten the bolts enough, but the base of the steeple was intact. I hung black felt over each window so it would look black. I often wondered if anyone would ever see that felt again.” Ed comments, “but sure enough when I went to the demolition there it was,” Ed comments. “The steeple was to be installed on a Friday with the dedication service on Saturday. I got a call Thursday night that the truck delivering the steeple broke down and it would not be installed on Friday. The steeple arrived and was installed on Monday. Evan Welsh good naturedly joked, ‘It is so appropriate that something that is associated with me is late, since that has been a characteristic of my life.’”
