St. Lawrence

The smell of holy water has replaced the smell of orange juice that the cafeteria lady used to hand out to chubby, impatient hands. Pews line the building, row on row like consecrated soldiers, their cushioned seats barely imprinted. A vast difference from the well worn grooves in the desks and chairs that had seen a thousand bottoms over five decades.

The sounds of children’s laughter have been replaced by the thunderous boom of a century old pipe organ, dedicatedly and delicately moved piece-by-piece over the two-mile journey from the old church into the new one.

The windows that caught endless daydreams of playing outside are now stained with the scenes from the bible that the children used to learn from schoolbooks.

The outside remains the same – updated, but the same. New vinyl siding had replaced the cracked, chipping paint. A tower has been added and a large, modern-looking cross placed where the name of the school once proudly stood. A modern cross for a modern church – out with the old, in with the new.

The gymnasium sticks out from the side of the church like a tumor – old, decrepit, unloved. Rarely used and kept on as the parish hall, it’s the lone reminder that this brand new church has not always been a church, but a place of learning where generations upon generations attended.

Brides, flushed with excitement, will be reminded with each step down the pristine red carpeted aisle that they once roamed through this building with a very different purpose – a bathroom break, going to music class or heading to the gym.

Everything has happened between these four walls – the celebrations of life, of death, of new beginnings. Teachers have nurtured young minds, children have learned, been disciplined, have laughed and cried. There isn’t an emotion that hasn’t been experienced within the walls of St. Lawrence.

So, instead of sending their children to school, parents now put on their Sunday best and they all make the journey to St. Lawrence Anglican Parish for service. Or in the case of a former student and future bride, she will walk down the aisle, excited about the future memories she will make with her husband, while her childhood memories echo off the walls that surround her.