Cross restored at St. John the Baptist in Manayunk [photos]

A campaign to fix up the exterior of the 121-year-old St. John the Baptist church building in Manayunk is well underway. The cross sitting atop the structure was taken down for repairs earlier this year and has now been restored.

The upper section of the cross was knocked off a few years ago after bad weather.

“The work that we’re doing on the church building itself is a metaphor for what we’re trying to achieve pastorally in the community,” said Lawrence, pastor of St. John’s for almost two years.

Lawrence says that before the cross was sent off for repairs, it was stored in the parish hall. He had been apologizing to visitors about the inconvenience when one woman told him she actually found the cross to be a “hopeful sign.”

The cross was moved to the back of the church. Lawrence also decided to install a time capsule filled with prayers and petitions inside the cross.

Now those prayers sit atop the church’s 208-foot-tall tower.