wfn.org | [ENS] Symbolic sculpture honors Trinity-St. Paul's 9/11 response

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Monday, May 9, 2005

Symbolic sculpture honors Trinity-St. Paul's 9/11 response

Fellows awarded for transformational ministry in New York

By Matthew Davies

ENS 050905-1

[ENS, New York] -- Roots of a sycamore tree that fell in St. Paul's
Chapel
churchyard in downtown Manhattan on September 11 -- missing all the
historic
tombstones and the church itself -- were returned May 5 to Trinity
Church,
Wall Street, New York, by sculptor Steve Tobin after casting a mold of
the
stump and its remaining roots to use in preparation for his sculpture
honoring St. Paul's. An outdoor community event and a festive Eucharist
also
marked Ascension Day at Trinity Church as well as the 159th anniversary
of
its consecration.

An uplifting story

After hearing the story of the sycamore, Tobin, who is best known for
his
bronze "Roots" sculpture, decided that he would use the roots of the
sycamore as inspiration for a new sculpture. He envisioned the roots
becoming a metaphor for the strength and connectedness of the ministry
of
St. Paul's in the aftermath of 9/11, and also wanted to honor the
victims,
volunteers and rescue workers.

The morning after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Rev. Lyndon Harris,
then
rector of St. Paul's, walked to the chapel assuming that it had been
demolished as the towers fell. When he saw the spire rising through the
dust
and discovered that the chapel had not suffered any damage, he knew he
had a
mission.

Over the next eight months St. Paul's, under Harris' leadership,
operated
full time as a relief site for emergency workers, keeping its doors open
around the clock in order to provide food, respite and sanctuary.

When asked at the time when St. Paul's would get back to being a real
church, Harris responded, "I don't think we've ever been, nor will ever
be,
any closer to a 'real church' than we are right now."

Tobin, who has been creating art since he was 13, described the response
of
St. Paul's to the events of September 11 as "the only uplifting story"
surrounding the terrorist attacks. "St. Paul's changed its mandate that
year
and opened its doors," he said. "They were a vehicle for an uplifting
response, so to make something that will be a lasting monument to this
is a
real honor."

Tobin explained that he has always been interested in science, and in
his
work he is connected to a broader spiritual context through studying "a
philosophical reaction to the earth and the reaction to man and the
surrounding environment."

"It is symbolic that [the terrorists] knocked down the buildings," he
said,
"and all that did was uncover the roots."

The completed sculpture will be dedicated and installed at Trinity
Church,
Wall Street, on September 10, 2005. [Further information on the work of
Steve Tobin may be found online at: http://www.stevetobin.com.]

Making a difference

Preaching at a midday Eucharist, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold
acknowledged the work in which Trinity is involved throughout the church
and
the wider Anglican Communion, and the ministry of care and
reconciliation
into which St. Paul's entered after 9/11.

Trinity's rector, the Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, thanked Griswold for his
life and leadership in the Church before introducing the deputy for
grants
at Trinity Church, the Rev. James Callaway, who announced the 2005
Trinity
Transformational Fellows, honoring those committed to transformational
ministry within the Diocese of New York.

This year's fellows were awarded to Marion E. D. Peng, a parishioner at
the
Church of St. Edward the Martyr in East Harlem, and the Rev. Richard L.
Witt
Jr, executive director of Rural and Migrant Ministry, a non-profit
aligned
with the Diocese of New York and connected with other Christian
judicatories
throughout New York.

Peng, a retired teacher and published poet, has been a leader in the
Industrial Areas Foundation for more than 25 years. In the 1970s, she
was
active in school reform efforts in East Harlem. More recently, she
registered voters in public housing projects and advocated for change in
a
local postal facility.

Witt has been instrumental in building coalitions that bring suburban
and
urban allies in support of farmworker issues. There have been
significant
legislative and policy changes as a result, including mandates for
sanitation and drinking water in the fields. For the first time,
farmworkers
are part of the state minimum wage. Witt has also been instrumental in
creating service-learning and civic engagement programs for the children
of
farmworkers and has been successful in creating partnerships with local
colleges that provide scholarship funds to immigrants.

The yearlong fellowship, created in 2004, includes a $20,000 award and a
six-week sabbatical to strengthen the recipients' ministries and mentor
emerging leaders.

Callaway explained that for more than 300 years Trinity has supported
the
work of the Church and beyond. "We have been ministering to social
transformation," he said. "Now we are supporting the people who make a
difference."

[A video and photo gallery memorializing the St. Paul's Sycamore root
can be
accessed online at:
http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/article_484.shtml.]

--Matthew Davies is staff writer and web manager of Episcopal News
Service.

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