Monday, September 2, 2013

Reward offered for return of lamp taken from New Haven church

From New Haven CT-

St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church on Whitney Avenue is offering a cash reward and a no-questions-asked return policy for a sanctuary lamp that was taken from the church Aug. 24.

Church staff discovered the lamp missing while they were cleaning the church in preparation for Sunday service. The lamp is an antique and has been with the church for at least two decades, said Julie Kelly, property manager for the church.

“It was like a hole,” the Rev. Michael F. Ray, rector of the parish, said of the lamp’s disappearance

The lamp was brought back from England by sisters who had been visiting the country, Kelly said. It was donated in their brother’s honor.

“Father Ray always says we aren’t about things, but when people give things to church it takes on a sense of permanence,” she said.

It holds much more sentimental than monetary value, Ray said. “It’s a spiritual symbol that is important. ... The most important element is people gathering to worship.”

“The whole symbol is that the candle burns perpetually, symbolizing how the sacrament is reserved,” he said.


More here-

http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20130901/reward-offered-for-return-of-lamp-taken-from-new-haven-church

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