Old Stone Church Vespers 2010
By Kevin Gray
Although the heat was on, visitors and performers at the Old Stone Church Vespers Service Saturday evening felt what it must have been like to worship at the first Christmas time service there in 1861.
As the winds howled, snow swirled around on the street, and one frozen soul repeatedly rang the welcome bell outside, smiles and good cheer came alive inside.
When the Old Stone Church was first built, said host for the evening Grady Atwater, this was a community under attack. “It was the time of the Civil War. There had been a draft, and there were economic hardships. It is fitting we come together because our world isn’t that much different today,” Atwater said.
Despite the economy, Atwater said, the area was swimming with missionaries. “They were here to save the souls of Native Americans and anyone else,” Atwater said.
Everybody had a little money, Atwater said, speaking of a variety of congregations. “But they did not have enough money to build a church. Every congregation had been meeting in cabins or houses, but they had no formal meeting place. This is when the Reverend Samuel Adair put together an idea for a union church. And, this is how this church came to be,” said Atwater.
And, so, as the Reverend Ted Hunter offered a prayer and the Band of Oz began playing, the congregation for this one evening sat on the original benches. Feet and legs were protected by boards added in the early days to stop drafts of air from flowing underneath the pews and, as Atwater said, “Causing discomfort for the woman who wore only dresses in those days.”
Other performers from the community providing Christmas selections included the Osawatomie High School Jazz Band, the Christmas Story as told by Ted Hunter, Amanda Ellis, Grady Atwater, Angie and Hannah Wastlund and Bruce Ozias; the Amazing Grace Choir; the First Presbyterian Church Choir; and the First United Methodist Church Choir.
The congregation joined in on the chorus of “Go Tell It On the Mountain” at the invitation of the Amazing Grace Choir, as they did at the end at the invitation of Amanda Ellis and Grady Atwater for the song “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem.” “No service would be right without a congregational singing, perhaps a first for a vesper’s service,” said Atwater.
Donations placed in the collection plate would go to the Osawatomie Historic Preservation Fund, Atwater said. “The city does not have the funds for upkeep of our historical sites, so we do this by voluntary donations alone,” Atwater said. Upcoming preservation fund events will be the Kansas Day Celebration on Jan. 29, the Old Stone Church Gospel Concert on Feb. 26, and Railroad Day on April 23.
A new pulpit has recently been added, said Atwater. “A gentleman from Missouri stopped by some time ago and said he knew where we could get a pulpit, one that John Brown had actually spoken from. I thought this odd enough being that this man was from Missouri and we were speaking about John Brown. We can’t prove that John Brown is connected to this pulpit, but it certainly was built in the 1850s or before and fits the times and the church well,” Atwater said.
Current projects include preserving the Old Stone Church and developing an interpretative trail in John Brown Memorial Park, the site of the Battle of Osawatomie.
Atwater, who is also the John Brown Museum and site administrator, said donations go 100 percent to the preservation fund. The vesper’s service was hosted by the John Brown Museum Historical Site and the Osawatomie Tourism Committee.
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Posted by admin
on Dec 15 2010. Filed under News and Updates.
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