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| Remembering World War I: Maryland Bishop Rededicates One-of-a-Kind Chapel | |||
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As the bishop of Maryland was rededicating "the only" World War I chapel in the nation Nov. 14, a young woman walked up the aisle of a small Odenton, Md., church, pulling along a 4-year-old boy. She came to say she heard the church bells ring announcing the Armistice - the end of World War One - and came to say a prayer of thanks that her husband, the boy's father, would be coming home. Years later, that boy, Tom MacNemar, remembered running to the church.. "I was 4 years old. The train whistles blew, the church bell rang. My mother took me by the hand and we ran down Odenton Road. We ran 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."İ The reenactment was performed by Christina Stevenson of Pasadena, Md., and her son, Russell, 3. His widow, Josephine, 87, sat in the front row on Sunday in Epiphany Church in Odenton, west of Annapolis. "Tom would be happy to see this," she said. The humble board and batten building in Odenton is not only a church now, but isİalso a social history museum of artifacts, music, uniforms and information about the Great War that is recognized by Register of Historic Places as the only known WWI chapel. Military historians say WWI chaplains were issued only a tent and a blue flag with a white Latin Cross. Epiphany Chapel and Church House, now Epiphany Episcopal Church, was built as a "home away from home" for the doughboys at Camp Meade, as Fort Meade was then known. Soldiers were welcomed with church services, dinners, dances and counseling by the five chaplains ministering to the camp. The project was supported by Maryland, Pennsylvania and District members of the Church War Commission and constructed with $11,000 in funds donated by two women from Epiphany Church in Washington. At Sunday's dedication, the Episcopal bishop of Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff, said the building "is a tribute to the Armed Forces, the nation and the diocese." The rector, the Rev. Phebe L. McPherson, who has spent 18 years restoring the building to its original state and upgrading the infrastructure, said the project cost $1.2 million. "We learned," she said, "that a church is not just a building." The small congregation, she said, volunteered for church duties, baked, sanded, scrubbed and worked hard to see it become a social history museum as well as a healthy, growing, diverse church community. A memorial Peace Garden with bronze tablets naming the nearly 3,000 chaplains of the Great War, stands outside. The congregation prays for chaplains every Sunday and was restored with the help of $23,000 in donations from military chapel offerings around the world. After 9-11, the congregation created a "cookie ministry" for the MPs from Oregon manning the gates at Fort Meade. The church also gave a Peace Award to Chaplain Norman P. Forde, who is retiring after 50 years ministering to soldiers at Fort Meade. Music, games, and mementos from the era were displayed throughout the church/museum. Costumed members of the congregation mingled, a bagpiper played, era music was played and sung, children ran around chairs on the "cakewalk" and earned a cake by landing on the right chair, poppies and Clark bars, donated to thousands of soldiers, were plentiful. On Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 60 members of the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) visited the church and museum. Their predecessors donated a Communion service to the chapel in 1918. The young mother's prayer in 1918 reflected the prayers of today's mothers: "We come to this place today giving thanks for all those who have given everything they have for the freedom we now know. And Lord, please bring peace again, for the sake of our children, and our children's children." |
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