From South Carolina-
Until insurance agents got involved, each newly confirmed child in the Parish Church of St. Helena marked the milestone by climbing the narrow steps to the top of its steeple.
In Beaufort now, only eagles and osprey get nearer to God.
Back then, the wind would caress their young faces as they squeezed the banister, looked down on mossy trees hiding the downtown, and squinted at water glistening into infinity in the beautiful bay beyond.
The rite was their passage into a church that was formed in 1712 -- a decade before the Old North Church in Boston was established and six decades before Paul Revere's "one if by land, two if by sea" plot depended on lanterns in its steeple.
Today, the Episcopal church in the heart of Beaufort will celebrate its 300th anniversary with a sermon by the Lord Bishop of London.
His visit is made more special by the parade of demands on his time, from conducting last year's royal wedding to this year's Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and the London Olympic Games. It illustrates the rare story of the second-oldest church in South Carolina, and one of the oldest in America.
More here-
http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/01/21/1936088/old-old-story-the-tie-that-binds.html
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