Easter services will continue as artefacts are found in rubble

April 16, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Easter services will continue as planned for parishioners of Aurora United Church.

Good Friday Services will be hosted at Newmarket’s Trinity United Church (461 Park Avenue at Main Street) this Friday at 10.30 a.m. Easter Sunday services return to Aurora at 10.30 a.m. in the auditorium at Aurora High School (155 Wellington Street West).

Following Holy Week, regular Sunday services are expected to continue through September at another local church. They have been overwhelmed by support from other local congregations and details on the schedule beyond Easter Weekend are expected to be finalized this week.

Other welcome news was also received on Monday as demolition crews, guided by church members, were able to locate some precious cargo in a burnt-out closet in the southwest corner of the church. Inside a scorched basket were sounds which have brought joy to many over the years.

“The Bell Choir was able to find their bells,” said Rod Johnson, Chair of the Church Council on Monday. “There were shrieks of joy around 5 p.m. when they opened them and they were intact.”

Looking ahead this week, they are working with the demolition crews to salvage what they can. They are hopeful a large wooden cross once hanging over the sanctuary is still salvageable at the bottom of the rubble, and they also hope to retain as many bricks as they can to incorporate into their new structure.

Engineers still haven’t decided if the façade of the building, still standing, complete with its street-level stained glass windows, will be able to stay, but they are expected to dismantle the gable above the windows this week.

At this early stage, they foresee a two year window for reconstruction.