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About the Roofing Project |
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| Did you know
that you can drive on the steep pitched roof of First Church? Ok, Ok you
can't really drive on the roof today but perhaps you already did at some
other date! Yeah, I know what you're thinking, "all those long
hours at work - he's finally lost it!" Well not exactly.
Perhaps you noticed when you tried to park at the church that a municipal waste truck was blocking your path. That truck is there to cart off the refuse of the roof project that is currently underway. A.J. Roofing has been working diligently over the past week and a half (whenever it wasn't raining – and yes, there were couple of dry days) to repair our main Sanctuary roof. Of course, we all knew this was about to begin, so what's the big deal? Well did you know that this new roof is comprised of the most state-of-the-art material available for today’s historical roofing projects? The product going onto our roof is called Composite Slate; and is made of recycled automobile tires! (You see, he didn't really lose it!) This all-rubber material is molded and impregnated with your choice of 5 different colors. Our choice is Federal Gray -- a dark gray that will closely resemble the existing Virginia Slate on the Christian Education wing, and yet still look like the Pennsylvania Black Slate that was originally on the building (some of which still exists on the steeple). The Composite Slate is pressed with a pattern that resembles the grain of real slate, and our design choice will have clipped and beveled edges - again, to match the original slate. Because there is no adhesive or other foreign material to fail in the installation process, this modern product has a warranty of 50 years. Although warranties can often be a 'crap-shoot', the installers of this product actually believe the roof’s life span will greatly surpass the 50-year warranty period. That's good news for First Church! A project like this is not an easy one to put together, or a cheap one to finance. So the fewer times we need to repeat this, the better off we all are. Returning our Church facade to its historical splendor at an affordable cost is part of what our Seeds of Faith Campaign is all about. The roof is just the first step. Soon you will see doors disappear as they are being refurbished and refinished. New doors installed to match the original Gothic style, scaffolding around the Church as the stonework is repointed and windows are refurbished and repaired. It is an exciting time, and a trying time. It will require our patience as we look for parking spaces and see our beautiful church made a little messy for a short while. But of course, it will all be worth it when we are able to realize that we have completed a project that will outlast each of us, and pave the way for many Christians to come 'home' to their Lord and Savior - to the home that has blessed us and so many before us for over 110 years. |
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