Service blesses stone structures prior to return to tower

NEW BEDFORD _ Four carved stone pinnacles will soon return to their prominent location at the base of the steeple at the Grace Episcopal Church tower.

As Bishop Gayle E. Harris blessed the pinnacles Sunday at a special service at the church, she reminded the worshipers that these structures have an important symbolic message.

They serve as a reminder to “lift our hearts and minds,” she said.

“God does not need our buildings,” she said. “It’s us who need the buildings.”

She described the worshipers as “the living stones of the church,” who are called to go out into the world and serve. They represent “a sense of being elevated, of us being uplifted” to share the word of God and to serve others, she said.

The pinnacles can help uplift and inspire, she said.

“When the world goes low, remember the pinnacles,” she said. “They tell us to go high.”

The pinnacles stand as “outward and visible signs of God’s grace given to us and extended through us to others,” according to a description of the service distributed to those in attendance.

A reception followed the service, featuring silent auction and an opportunity to purchase the stones and bricks that will be used in the final phases of tower restoration.

Church officials said the gifts would help underwrite the cost of mortar. These fundraising efforts will help close the gap between an earlier campaign and the actual cost of restoration due to greater deterioration discovered during the work.

This article originally appeared in the Standard Times on 11/7/2016 – see the original article here