David Grooms holds the cross he helped save as a young boy when the 1907 sanctuary was demolished. Today, the cross sits on a table in the Friendship Sunday School classroom.

Saving a cross
from Second’s past

By David Grooms
From the pages of our history, you will find that the second sanctuary was erected on the present site in 1907 and stood until 1952 at which time our present sanctuary was constructed. I grew up in the shadow of the Second United Methodist Church and am still a member today.

Above the 1907 sanctuary were two steeples with a cross atop each one. The hollow crosses were constructed of thin-gauge galvanized steel painted white. As a young boy, I saw the old church steeples come down and the new one go up, the one that is towering over our sanctuary today.

On the day they pulled the old steeples down, I asked for and received permission from my Mother to miss school so that I could see this event. A large bulldozer with a steel cable attached to the base of each tower pulled them over separately; each falling with tremendous force. In fact, the second tower to fall fell on top of the first.

As soon as the dust settled, I and a gentleman by the name of Frank Marshall climbed down into the debris in search of the two crosses. Mr. Marshall was co-owner of Marshall and Hudson Grocers that was located at the corner of Carrick Street and Western Avenue in the same building that is there today.

After a long search we spotted one of the crosses but were unable to get to it. Later in the week, I arrived home from school and was informed by my aunt that Mr. Marshall wanted me to come up to his store. When I got there, Mr. Marshall pointed to two large brown paper bags and inside each was a cross.

One was crushed beyond repair. However, the one that stood atop the steeple at the northwest corner was only split up both sides and could be repaired.

With paper sack in hand, I ran home back down Western Avenue with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. Several years later, I took the cross to a friend, Bill Moore, who owned a welding shop. Bill removed the old crumbling white paint by sandblasting the cross down to a shiny metal finish. He then rewelded it to its original condition.

Later, Bob White, a member of our church today, took the cross to his marble shop and mounted it on a beautiful Tennessee marble base. Today, the cross sits on a table in the Friendship Sunday School classroom.

Untold thousands of people worshipped beneath this cross for more than four decades. Untold thousands of people passed this cross every day. This cross is a historic symbol from our past. But most of all, this cross is the same cross that adorns our church steeple today — the cross of Jesus Christ, the Savior of our world.

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