HOW do you transport a font, a processional cross, and an altar cross 1560 miles, for free? The answer, for a parish in Alabama, in the United States, lay with a team of volunteers who formed a “font relay” to take the items to their new church-plant.
The font and crosses were donated to the Riverside Episcopal Church, the newest church-plant in the diocese of Alabama, by the Revd Sinclair “Skippy” Ender, a priest in New Hampshire, who had been storing the items at home for several years, the Episcopal News Service reports.
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Fr Ender, a US navy veteran, rehomed the font a few years ago from an Episcopal church that was closing in Maine. At first, he planned to use it in his ministry as a naval chaplain, but, following naval tradition, a ship’s bell was used instead as the font. He found the altar cross in a skip, and restored it; and the processional cross was donated to him.
Melissa Headrick Bailey, a member of the Bishop’s Committee for Riverside Church, posted on Facebook asking for items from churches that no longer needed them.
Fr Ender responded, offering his items, and initially offered to have them shipped, until he discovered the cost. So, instead, Ms Bailey posted on Facebook, asking Episcopalians whether they could offer to drive part of the way, operating as a relay to cover the miles. Eleven volunteers stepped forward, and the hashtag #FontRelay appeared on social media.
The first stage was accomplished by Fr Ender himself, who drove 222 miles to Springfield, Massachusetts. Then, Leslie Williams, from St Andrew’s, Northford, took over and drove 118 miles to New Haven, Connecticut.
The next stage, 83 miles to Secaucus, New Jersey, was undertaken by two parishioners of St John’s, Larchmont: Nancy Pierson and Diane Goodman, who handed the items to Vivian Roston, from St Bartholomew’s, New York City, who drove the 239 miles to Hagerstown, in Maryland. The same day, the Munroe family, at Virginia Theological Seminary, drove them 133 miles to Staunton, Virginia.
Susan Palmer, warden of Trinity Church, Staunton, took the 225-mile stage to Bristol, Tennessee, where the music director of St Luke’s, Knoxville, Candace Armstrong, took over to drive the 115 miles to Knoxville.
The 11 miles to Chattanooga, Tennessee, were undertaken by Maryjo Latham, a parishioner of St James’s, Knoxville, and, the same day, the items were driven 110 miles to Gadsden, Alabama, by parishioners from Church of the Resurrection, Rainbow City, Ola Williams and Cathy Struntz.
The penultimate day covered a shorter 69 miles to Irondale, Alabama, with the last section covered by a non-church member, Lane Oden. Ms Bailey drove the final 31 miles to take the items into their new church.
A notebook to record the journey was given by Fr Ender for each volunteer driver to record their reflections.
“We are grateful to be on this journey with y’all. It is nice to think about all of these items going to their new home in our home state and diocese of Alabama,” Kyle, Lauren, and William Munroe wrote in the notebook. “We hope these items help lead people with deeper faith, and new life in Christ.”
Fr Ender said that he would love to visit the items in their new home. “Everyone who helped undertake this big task of helping a new church get on its two feet answered the call to ministry,” he said. “Even if the task of driving seemed small, they participated in an extraordinary thing.”
“The antique font Father Skippy gave us is lovely, and it’s also very small and perfect for us,” the Pastor of Riverside and the diocese of Alabama’s Canon to the Ordinary, the Revd Geoff Evans, told ENS. “Everything has been serendipitous; providential, even.”
