WOODEN PLAQUES IN THE SANCTUARY

A presentation of the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer on wooden plaques was held Sunday, September 10, at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.

Long time member of the Church, Mr. David Houck, hand-carved these plaques. They are presently hanging in the front of the Sanctuary as a constant reminder of God's Law and His Love for us. To briefly define the magnitude of this work that he had before him, David counted the number of characters in the Ten Commandments and the Lords' Prayer. He then had to determine just how large the characters would have to be to fill the space that he had allotted for the pieces. Through trial and error he determined that each character could be no more than 1 and 1/2 inches high to fit the area he wished to cover. 540 characters were carved on the Bass Wood that he had selected for the work. This magnificent piece of art took David Houck 80 hours to carve. He was constantly aware of spelling, spacing and shapes of each letter and word. Someone asked David, what he would do if he found that he had made a mistake in one word? David got a half smile on his face and said "It all depends on where the error was located; if it was near the start I would have to start over." Another asked, "What if it was near the end?" David smiled again and said, " I guess I would have to cry."

When he was six years old, David began building wooden bird houses which he sold for a quarter. He has become an excellent carver and is also past president of the Sawdust Engineers. St. Andrew Presbyterian Church is blessed to have these carvings grace our Sanctuary.