Altar Dedication

More Photos!

Photo Credits: Scott Hotze, Katie Hotze-Wilton, Rachel Lee, Karla Kaucher

“A Circle of Life”
By: Rev. Dr. Carol Trissell

Sunday, April 25th marked a historic day in the life of Metropolitan Community Church of Greater Saint Louis - the dedication and blessing of a commissioned altar table. The altar table was constructed in keeping with our overall sanctuary theme of earth and sky. Hence, the dedication of this altar on the Sunday following Earth Day seems fitting.

The “back story” of this new altar table has evolved over the last several months after moving into our worship facility at 1919 S. Broadway. During the move, the church staff discovered that our former altar table – donated to us by the congregation of St. John’s United Methodist Church – was simply too small in our large sanctuary. However, funds were not available to purchase an altar and some additional time was needed to decide what type of altar would best suite our worship space.

A few months ago the pastoral staff began to discuss a commissioned table and researched possible ones to purchase. In selecting a table that seemed in keeping with the sanctuary design, Katie Hotze-Wilton offered to speak with her father, Scott Hotze, to see if he would be willing to construct a table specifically for MCCGSL. Scott readily accepted this idea and spent many hours in dialogue with the original artist who designed the altar upon which ours is based. After creating a cardboard model for the church staff to view in our sanctuary, he began work on the actual altar utilizing wood from their family farm in Pacific.

The wood utilized in the altar represents more than an earth element in our sacred space; it represents a circle of life from birth to death to resurrection. The base of the altar is a part of what was once a walnut tree logged off the farm many years before the Hotze family purchased it in 1991. Scott discovered this distinct stump when he was walking the newly purchased property. Obviously, the stump had been rejected by the loggers due to the fact that it was part of the tree where the branches forked. No one knows how many years this unique piece of wood lay out in the woods – unwanted, unused, rejected. Now it has been given a new life in the base of our altar.

Also incorporated in the altar table is wood from fallen oak trees on the farm. Over the last 15 years, Scott has gathered and milled wood from various types of oak trees. The planks were simply cut, set aside, and stored for an unknown use at an unknown time. Based on a portion of a sermon that Katie preached at MCCGSL that everything has a use or purpose, Scott decided to incorporate these cut pieces into the altar table top. These pieces represent a tree that once sprouted, grew, died, and now has been given new life in our altar.

To honor Scott’s time, gifts, and skills in creating our altar, a legacy brick or tile will be donated to him by MCCGSL. Also, in honor of his connection to MCCGSL,
Katie Hotze-Wilton will consecrate communion today – the first communion served on this commissioned altar table.
 
We at MCCGSL give thanks to God for creating a way for us to have this beautiful altar; made more significant by the love and connection that it represents between God and God’s children at MCCGSL and Scott and his daughter, Katie. As we the people of God – many of us unwanted, unused, and rejected – share the sacrament of communion from this altar, may we remember our individual circle of life: from birth, to death, to resurrection through the love and grace of God.