Steeplejacks give Findlay church fresh start

The steeple of First Presbyterian Church is looking fresh and new again. For the past two weeks, steeplejacks from a Christian-based company called Inspired Heights of Rochelle, Illinois have been rappelling up, down and around the steeple that stretches nearly 200 feet above the South Main Street church building. "People slow down when they drive by the church. It's not something you see everyday," said facility manager Amy Ring. Ring said there's always something that needs done around the 65,000-square-foot building. And among the items on her "to do" list was addressing the state of the church steeple. "It was time to paint," she explained. "You could see with the naked eye that it (the paint) was peeling." The church hired a man who works at the Findlay Airport and has a drone service to fly over and take detailed images, she said. Ring was then required to obtain three bids for the work. "Inspired Heights was one of them and I liked what they did. I liked their program, and here we are," she said. Tony Stratton, president of the company and a third-generation steeplejack, started the business in 1993. Work is limited to church restoration. In 2005, the business also became a ministry. "We work with people out of prison teaching them a trade just working on churches," he said. "It's kind of a personal mentorship where we work with the individuals. It's designed to help them to establish something with their life and do something productive." Ring said the agreement with the company was to scrape and paint the steeple, then repair any visual damage outside the contract. "The team got up there, a crew of three, and they saw some damage, just wear and tear, weather, rotted wood," she said. They found three significantly rotted areas that they fixed. She said they also found a large honey bee nest, and the honey has been rotting through the wood. "Nobody has been daredevil enough to take care of it," she said. "Now we're wondering what to do. That's my job. I'll figure it out." Inspired Heights combines the best of old fashioned craftsmanship with current technical advances. "Everything's by hand," said Ring. "They don't have one tool up there, it's all manpower." The steeplejacks The men are called steeplejacks, a word that dates back to 1852, according to the Inspired Heights website. It is believed that the sailors of the tall sailing ships were the original steeplejacks. They would come to port and during their time ashore they would use their rigging skills to climb and repair church steeples. Ring said the crew members were hard workers. "They have to come through the church to climb up into the bell tower, which is story after story after story after story straight up steel ladders, and they probably don't want to come down for silly little things. When they're up, they're up," she said. Through the company's on-the-job training, these apprentices learn all manner of skills, including metalwork, carpentry, painting and wood and stone restoration. The mentoring program also incorporates the Christian life, Stratton said. Participants are taught and expected to work, study and live according to Biblical principles. Every morning begins with prayer and Bible study and it is required for everyone to attend a Bible-believing Christian church at least twice a week. "We have a saying, 'Restoring churches while God restores lives.' So we're working on churches while God works on us," he said.