As I sat down to pen this blog (figuratively speaking) I glanced at my calendar and read a recurring entry for 13 March 2021, I’d written a year ago “COVID-19 Close Down 2020.” It has been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic brought such havoc, disruption and change to our lives but a year on from that calendar entry vaccines are starting to offer the prospect of a less isolated future and that set against the backdrop of the new construction brings one word to my mind: “RESURGAM.”
Lest you think I’ve gone all classical on you fear not for I have, alas, not become a Latin scholar but I have known this word for almost as long as I can remember – “RESURGAM” (‘I will rise again’)* is engraved over the north door of the Minister Church of St Andrew in Plymouth UK (my home town) and I definitely feel a very strong whiff of “RESURGAM” in the air as we approach our celebration of The Christ’s Resurrection. All this introduction, which I hope you do not find too contrived, brings me to the blogging about the new construction’s brickwork. The brickwork on the Great Hall and Narthex is nearly done and soon the bricklaying team will be off to pastures new leaving us with a masterpiece of their craft that I am sure, in years to come, will be marveled as we today marvel the craft that built the Historic Church. Even though I visit the building site on more than the odd occasion I am always struck, perhaps almost surprised, at the harmony between the old and the new. Until this past week I thought this harmony was best appreciated from the prospect offered by Sentara carpark from where you can see the new building backed by the Historic Church but it’s no longer so. This week I found a new vantage point whilst standing by the Historic Church and looking across at the new building, the Old standing strong in front of the New, I’ve tried to capture the sight in a picture above! Laying the bricklayers aside (yes! I meant to do that) it has been a week of “Erics.” There was Eric the “data network guy” from Secure Network Solutions (SNS) building out our new IT closet. Then there was Eric “the dais guy” who delivered the new platform that, once sheathed in the appropriate shade of laminate, will carry the Altar in the Great Hall. And then, of course, there’s Eric and his crew, the general-purpose demo/build/paint team of furniture movers I blogged about last week. This week has also brought an abundance of parishioner visitors to the site, another sign we are starting to break the shackles of COVID-19. Early in the week it was Janet Forbes and Vicki Dorsett both providing expert input on how the new Altar Guild room should be fitted out. Then there was Mal Higgens providing his legal advice and then a group of ladies meeting with Diane Miller. I do very much enjoy it when there’s an opportunity to walk a visitor around the new construction, I think the way people genuinely get “lost” in buildings, which before construction they were so familiar with, speaks volumes about the amount of change that’s taken place over the past year…..and so far not too many adverse comments and, long may that last! This will be my last blog for a couple of weeks so until then stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach. “RESURGAM” (‘I will rise again’): In 1941 the City of Plymouth, like London, was subjected to very heavy bombing raids, the Minister Church of St Andrew was burnt out and left a roofless shell. Later a board bearing the word ‘RESURGAM’ (‘I will rise again’) appeared over the north door – the sign remains there to this day. I am told once the building was made safe the parishioners planted grass and continued to hold services throughout the war and on until their Church was rebuilt.
1 Comment
Mal Higgins
3/31/2021 08:49:58 am
I am pleased to learn the meaning of "Resurgam" and the story behind it as placed over the door of Minister Church of St Andrew in Plymouth UK, Very strong statement, and much in common with the message of Easter.
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AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
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