wfn.org | Chapel and WWI ministry launched in Maryland

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2001-332

Chapel and WWI ministry launched in Maryland

by Val Hymes

     (ENS) When the restoration of Epiphany Church in Odenton, Maryland, was 
launched on Armistice Day Sunday, November 11, with special help from U. S. Army 
chaplains, it also marked the launching of a special ministry for military 
personnel at Fort George G. Meade.

     The Eucharist included children singing the "Peace Song" and a tenor 
singing, "If I am not at the roll call after the fighting is done," while a 
parishioner in World War I uniform looked on.

     The children's sermon by the Rev. Phebe L. McPherson described peace as 
"something more than the cessation of war...a different kind of peace is found in 
entrusting our lives to God." And she told how the son of a local town doctor 
remembered the Armistice when he was four years old.

     "The train whistles blew," wrote the late Tom MacNemar. "The church bell 
rang. My mother took me by the hand and we ran down Odenton Road ... right into 
the chapel, up to the front pew, and got on our knees to thank God that it was 
over and that my father would be coming home."

Special offerings

     After Sunday's service, the rector and parishioners donned hard hats and 
stripped off layers of siding to find the boards and batten that were used to 
build Episcopal Chapel and Church House in 1918. It was the only World War I 
military chapel in the nation and it ministered to the 100,000 men and women who 
passed through Camp Meade on their way to the trenches of France. It has been 
nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.

     The restoration of the exterior of the building will be done with the help 
of offerings from Army chapels around the world. Despite the terrorists attacks 
and dangerous military action abroad, more than $20,000 in donations from 
military chaplains arrived in the past three weeks. The Army Chief of Chaplains, 
Major Gen. Gaylord T. Gunhus, had requested special offerings to help with the 
restoration of the chapel and the creation of a Peace Garden honoring all 2,929 
World War I chaplains.

     The parish ministry, called Commission for American Soldier Assistance, 
includes providing home-baked cookies to the 100 military police from Fort Lewis 
in Washington State who arrived to man Fort Meade's gates after Sept. 11. Part of 
a grant from Episcopal Relief and Development will be used to help those who have 
been affected by the terrorist attacks, including families of military personnel 
who have been deployed overseas from Fort Meade. 

     The $800,000 building restoration project is supported by two Maryland 
Historical Trust grants and others foundations. 

Shape of the cross

     Epiphany Chapel and Church House was constructed in 1918 to serve personnel 
passing through Camp Meade. It was built in the shape of a cross "with the charm 
of a home --a fireplace in the living room, a dining room, kitchen, chaplains' 
office and rooms for visiting parents upstairs," said McPherson. "Five military 
chaplains offered counseling, worship and social activities," she added. The 
daughters of Civil War Gen. George G. Meade, after whom the fort was named, 
donated $11,000 to build the chapel.

     The only equipment issued to chaplains in World War I was a blue flag with a 
white Latin cross to mark their tents. After the terrorist attack September 11, a 
chaplain's tent was pitched outside the mangled section of the Pentagon. It bore 
the symbols of a cross, a crescent and the Star of David.

--Val Hymes is a member of St. James' Parish, Lothian, Diocese of Maryland.