The way the church was

I've written in many of these notes that my father was pastor of a church -- that would be Mt. Calvary Union Church, on Clements Bridge Road in Runnemede. The church was, over 60 years ago, a white clapboard building. The sanctuary was in the front part of the building on the top floor, and behind that was a large room, used for Sunday school, and behind that, before the bathroom was put in, there was another long, narrow room, which was used for the little kids Sunday school.

I'm not sure when that space was divided (the back room), but I think it was around 1948 or 49. It was made into two rooms -- one, a study for my father, and the other part was made into a restroom for the ladies. Up until that time, there was one bathroom and it was used by any and all who needed to use it. Downstairs there was one room, which was under the back room, and also a kitchen, very small, no refrigerator, but it had a stove and a sink in it. I remember it was always dark in there. The heating unit was also housed in this downstairs room.

About the time of the upstairs renovations, the downstairs was made larger, and the "cellar" which was under the main auditorium was tiled and used for Sunday school classes. The tile being green and gray blocks. So, we now have this large room which is under the entire church building. It was decided to put up folding doors and divide that large room into smaller rooms for Sunday school purposes. On New Years' eve or during wedding receptions, it was opened up so there was room for probably 150 people down there.

Each of these three sections had it's own piano, and before the classes began each Sunday, there would be singing with the various age groups. Upstairs in the back was the pre-school department. Downstairs in the back (near the kitchen) was the grade-school department (through 5th grade), in the middle section the 6th through 8th grades took up residence, and then in the front section, was the high-school Sunday school.

I remember a time when all the ladies of the church painted the small chairs for the Sunday school classroom for the pre-schoolers in colors of pink, blue, and yellow. They also painted the tables to match. The adult chairs to be used in that department were also painted those colors.

I always thought the main auditorium was so pretty. The lights were pewter and the ceiling looked like painted tin, which it may be, I'm not sure. The wainscoting was also painted tin, I think, at least it looked like that, then the rest was plaster.

I remember it was a big deal when the old pews were replaced with the new pews. The men of church built the pews from kits, and a new carpet runner was installed down the center aisle.

The pulpit was on a platform which was raised two steps above the main floor. And around platform was a railing with a kneeling pad for those who wished to go to the altar to pray. Behind the pulpit and to the left of the speaker (to the right of the congregation) was the organ. I remember when it was a pump organ, and then in the early 50s the Hammond organ was purchased.

My father loved to play the organ and see if he could get it to sound like a pipe organ. You know, like the organ at Wanamakers. And he would fiddle with the "stops" on that organ, and pull those bars out and push others in, until he thought he had a true pipe organ sound. My ears never heard "pipe organ", but his did. So, I guess music is in the ear of the beholder.

I started playing the piano in Sunday school when I was 10, and started playing the piano in church when I was 13. My mom taught me my first "improvisation" techniques. And since giving a lesson in music improv would be a lengthy proposition, I won't do that here. Just know, that when you improvise what is written in a hymnal it sounds much better than if you play exactly every note that is written.

My mom played the piano at church for as long as I could remember until that time I took over, and then she went to the organ. Of course, I played the organ for couple of years, and then Jean Manduka became the organist. I think mom was relieved when the youngsters took over. I know she spent a lot of time practicing for morning service (as did I, and then Jean).

The church was plastered on the outside with ugly gray asbestos siding and it was like that until maybe the late 80s or early 90s when it was resided with aluminum that looks like the clapboard that originally covered the outside of the church (as seen in the picture above).

Other changes have been made to the church through the years (like side walk improvements that made it so nice to have a place to skate), a new sign, the ramp into the front of the building, and others. The church will be celebrating it's 100th anniversary in two more years. I hope I'm around for that.