Two years after a famously violent storm ripped the steeple off a Maryland church, that church is complete.
After Mass Monday morning on the first day of school at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Kensington, 430 students were taken outside for a unique honor. They got to touch the 34-foot cross replacing the steeple toppled by the high winds during the June 2012 derecho.
“No other people will ever touch it,” Father Mark Hughes said. “And they're in an exclusive club. It's the final moment for the excitement of getting our steeple back."
Placing the new steeple above the 90-foot restored bell tower was a slow, precise process. The cross was lifted into place late Monday afternoon with a crane, and a construction crew is making sure it is installed to withstand the test of time and weather.
