"It's moving!" someone shouted at six minutes past noon. With that, more than 50 pairs of eyes locked on the tall, rust-colored structure that had brought a crowd to a windy rooftop at Eighth and H streets NW yesterday.
For the assembled members of Calvary Baptist Church, this was the moment they had long awaited. A new steeple was about to be installed on the rebuilt clock tower and belfry of their church, replacing the spire that was toppled by wind in 1913 and restoring the building to its original, mid-1860s design.
A new steeple begins its journey to the top of Calvary Baptist Church, ensuring that it once again "looks like a church," as one observer noted.
(Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)
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"This is like putting Lady Liberty back on the Capitol," joked the Rev. Jere Allen, a former interim pastor at Calvary who was standing with other steeple-emplacement watchers on the roof of a nearby building
At 12:15 p.m., the steeple, hovering a few feet off the ground, picked up speed as a crane hoisted it into the air.
Then, over the next four minutes, as the crane operator gingerly moved the 60-foot-high, 11,000-pound structure toward the new belfry, a hush came over the crowd.
"This is the ticklish part now," said Vivian Nielsen, a church member with her husband, Al, for 41 years.
Unlimited Designs, the Salt Lake City-based firm that built the spire, an aluminum and fiberglass replica of the original, cast-iron steeple built in 1866, had been concerned that high winds might force a postponement of the installation. But yesterday's air currents proved manageable, and Unlimited Designs chief executive Don Williams laughingly pronounced himself "confident but not cocky" just before the crane lift began.
"Don't you wish you could ride on that?" someone asked as the roof crowd watched the open latticework spire edge ever closer to the Gothic revival church.
"No!" came the riposte.
The new steeple is "something we've looked forward to" for years, said Hyattsville resident Wanda Gilson, 78, who wore earrings of tiny gold crosses. She has been a church member since 1953.
Four minutes later, the steeple hung motionless over the belfry. Four men in white hard hats grabbed it and slowly guided its descent until it came to rest at 12:21 p.m.
Clapping and whoops went up from the roof, marking the moment.
Now the building "looks like a church," said former pastor Allen. "It really had not looked like a church."
"Oh, it's a big deal. We're so thrilled," said Lorraine Harris, 77, who was married in Calvary in 1956 and still attends.
"It's a new beginning for us," said De-Alphia Robbins, 78, who lives Northwest Washington.
Earlier, as she watched the action on the ground across the street from her church, Calvary's senior pastor, the Rev. Amy K. Butler, said the steeple's restoration was a symbol of her congregation's rejuvenation, after years of declining membership. Butler said that at its peak in the 1950s, the church had 3,500 members. Today, its membership rolls number 700.
"I feel like Forrest Gump; I just happened upon this party," said Butler, who became pastor 18 months ago. She praised church members for keeping their church downtown. They believed that "there was an important ministry here," she said. "I have to give them credit for holding out."
Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, offered its Baptist neighbors its roof terrace so they could have a bird's-eye view of the action. And Marvelous Market sent coffee and pastries. Butler cited their contributions as an example of the neighborhood's growing community spirit. "We're so pleased our neighbors have been so gracious," she added.
This morning, Calvary Baptist will celebrate the church steeple restoration at a 10:45 a.m. service. The Washington Saengerbund, a guest choir, will sing German hymns. And Butler will give a sermon titled "Making Monuments."
