One set of pews; two churches reborn

George Guy sat on the blond-wood pews at Queen Anne United Methodist Church hundreds of times over the decades — through the weddings of his four sons, many holiday services and numerous weekly sermons.

But he's not sorry to see them go to a hurricane-devastated sister church in New Orleans. "They were cherished pews for the church," said Guy, 83, a retired businessman who has been a member all his life. "I think it's a wonderful thing that they are of the caliber that they can be used by others."

The 100-year-old Queen Anne church remodeled its sanctuary about a year ago and is donating the pews — along with an altar and large cross — to St. Luke's United Methodist Church in New Orleans. During Hurricane Katrina, some 8 feet of water flooded St. Luke's sanctuary, kitchen, fellowship hall and nursery school, destroying everything: pews, piano, organ, nursery school and office.

Today, members of the Queen Anne church plan to load the pews, altar and cross into a rental truck.

On Tuesday, a church member will begin driving it all down to St. Luke's.

Redesign part of rebirth

This Christmas season, as both congregations celebrate the birth of Jesus, they are also celebrating new lives for their churches.

"Our redesign was part of our rebirth," said Alice Rowe, wife of Queen Anne United Methodist Church's pastor, the Rev. Rodolph Rowe. "Getting the pews to New Orleans is a rebirth for the church devastated by Katrina."

The changes at the Queen Anne church are apparent the minute one steps in the door.

The warm-toned sanctuary is a few steps down — like a sunken living room. Instead of rows of pews, there are cushioned wooden chairs that can be easily moved, though most of the time they are arranged in the round, facing the altar.

The idea is to create an intimate space where people can see each other, and where the Lord's Table is central. Above the altar hangs a giant chandelierlike artwork of more than 1,200 wings, representing the gift of the Holy Spirit. Two video screens can show videos, slides or music.

It's quite a change from the front-facing pews and stark colors of the sanctuary before. But such drastic changes were needed, believes the Rev. Rowe, an enthusiastic, quick-to-laugh man.

When the Rowes came to the Queen Anne church about four years ago, only about 35 members attended church regularly. A local newspaper highlighted it as an example of a fading mainline Protestant church.

Now, some 90 people attend on Sunday mornings. And the average age dropped from 75 to somewhere in the 30s or 40s.

The redesign played a role in that, the Rev. Rowe says. "A 21st-century church needs to be very beautiful and needs to have the best of high tech to tell the story of Jesus Christ."

Still, the congregation holds fast to certain values — including working toward social justice and helping those in need.

That's why, after Katrina hit, church members decided they couldn't, after all, sell their old pews to help fund renovations.

"We realized we could not be a church, call ourselves a church, and sell them," said Alice Rowe.

Though it was denominational leaders who put the Queen Anne church in touch with St. Luke's, the Seattle congregants already felt a tie to New Orleans. Dana Ezell Rabon, a church member from Louisiana, had met her husband at the Queen Anne church and held her wedding in Baton Rouge three months before the storm. Members of the Queen Anne congregation went down for the wedding, and many stopped to visit New Orleans.

Katrina left St. Luke's in tatters. The inside of the church was destroyed, leaving only the brick walls, stained-glass windows and a concrete floor.

Yet just 1 ½ months after the hurricane, the congregation held its first service — outdoors on the patio with a generator to power the microphone, borrowed folding chairs for pews and a guitar for music.

Gradually, they rebuilt.

Congregants now worship in the sanctuary. They've graduated from the guitar to an upright piano, a donation from another congregation.

But much remains to be done: The sanctuary floor is still just concrete, the kitchen and bathrooms are being repaired, the elevator needs replacing. Somewhere down the road, they hope to find money to replace their ruined organ and grand piano.

Congregations have bonded

In the past year, the two churches have bonded. The pastors have preached at each other's pulpits, and members of each congregation have visited the other. The Queen Anne congregation raised $16,000 to give to St. Luke's, which the New Orleans church used to rebuild its nursery school.

"Queen Anne's has really adopted us," said Bonnie Happel, lay leader at St. Luke's. "The love and support they've shown us has been like a light of hope. The situation down here — each day is a chore still. People are constantly struggling with contractors, plumbers, things like that. When you have someone from the outside saying, 'We're thinking of you,' the technical support is important. But the emotional support is fantastic for the well-being and encouragement of the church."

For the Queen Anne congregation, "This is our way of remembering that things are still really bad down there in New Orleans," Rabon said. "Even though it's not on the news every night any more, they still need so much. ... This is something we have to do."

Alice Rowe believes the gift shows how much a small, but vibrant, congregation can achieve. "It gives us, as a little church, great joy to know that we are bringing a new beginning to a sister church."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com

Helping move the pews

Queen Anne United Methodist Church is accepting donations to help with the estimated $3,000 cost of moving the pews to New Orleans.

Donations may be sent to: Queen Anne United Methodist Church / Pews, 1606 Fifth Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119. More information: 206-282-4307 or www.qaumc.org.