#Travel Theme: Dried #Delawarechurch #1 Day 21 Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost
Ezekiel 37 1The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of theLord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
As I drove to my mother’s cousin’s I passed a sign in front of this old building that read, “Save the Old Barn.” When I inspected the “barn,” Ezekiel came to mind.
I tried describing the building to Hal, and he couldn’t place it even though it was two minutes walking distance from his home. It’s really a church!
Delaware is the first state in the United States, and St. Mary’s is the first Catholic Church in the state. Even its bones are interesting.
The danger fence they wrapped around the project had gaps that I easily slipped past and hiked down inside the old church barn. I wonder if this was once a stained glass window?
Life marches on growing up, around, and within the old structure even as the dried building crumbles around it.
Scattered across the floor of the structure I found litter and more weeds, lying with brittle wood and stones that had fallen from the once useful edifice.
But are the dry bones truly dead? Even if no one comes to restore them? The living communicates mortal thoughts on the deceased. Will the dried up edificial bones will preserve these shallow expressions?
Rhetorical questions. Nonetheless, this stain is part of the structure now. From the looks of the progress on this project, I doubt that anyone will come to paint it over. So the paint becomes part of the drying process. Soon the words will be bleached and faded, or painted over with new life.
It probably wasn’t safe to go into this building, and I did not waste time. I felt like an intruder first.
As I looked at all the fallen stones, I hurried less because I was an intruder and more because of the danger of being there. No one could predict when the next bit of decaying mortar would give way, and a shower of stones would rain down on my head. But I would be the one to suffer if the dried bones let loose.
For that matter, a huge beam or a large boulder might be the next to fall without warning.
But I couldn’t leave.
The dried up barn-church begged me to shoot it. Not to put it out of its misery, but to make it known. It really wanted to be on my blog. I was just waiting for the right time to show it off.
Alisa’s challenge gave me my first opportunity to showcase the decaying building. Although I have more pictures of this old church, I don’t want to bore you all at once. I hope you enjoyed traipsing through these dry bones.
What dried up ideas do you have to share with Alisa at Where’s my backpack?
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
14 responses to “First Catholic Church in DE Under Reconstruction”
[…] St. Mary’s Church, which may date back to 1750 has seen better days. Bob might want to tear it down, but it is protected. […]
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[…] The First Catholic Church in Delaware Under Reconstruction […]
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[…] The First Catholic Church in Delaware Under Reconstruction […]
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Are you going to be building the Church back up again?
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Actually, I don’t know any more of the plans than you see on the post. I live in CA. I loved the building when I went to DE to visit my mom’s cousin. 🙂
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Oh okay!
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Sorry! 🙂
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I think it should be open to the public. This is a really cool place! Thanks for risking it!
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I don’t think it is ready for the public. Too much liability. It’s one thing for me to risk it at my own discretion even though I’d been warned to keep out. it’s another to let the public explore it, I think. But it was worth it!
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How old is the church? (I can’t imagine scrawling an obscenity on the remains of a church, no matter how much of a miscreant I was as a youth.)
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Land was purchased in 1772, and church was built shortly thereafter. I can’t imagine doing that either, but our parents would have found out if we did, and we’d have to clean it off, among other things.
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Thanks, Marsha. And, yes, if and when our parents found out cleaning the graffiti would have been the least of the punishments.
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Amen, bro! 🙂
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