By Elizabeth Chute
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| Visitors at "Unwavering Spirit." Photo by Leo Sorel. |
On a sweltering afternoon in New York City, St. Paul’s Chapel quietly hummed with activity. A tour bus dropped off a group of teenagers, and they entered and raced over to the large fans along the walls, positioning themselves to catch gusts of air. Visitors walked slowly in groups, in pairs, or alone through the exhibit or clustered around computer stations to see the interactive features. In the pews, people prayed or talked quietly. Others sat and looked around and up at the colorful banners hanging from the gallery, created by children and well-wishers from around the world.
A little more than a month after the formal opening of its new 9/11 ministry exhibit, “Unwavering Spirit: Hope & Healing at Ground Zero,” St. Paul’s is attracting nearly twice the number of visitors per week than during the same period a year ago.
In March, the chapel recorded its one millionth visitor, and the numbers keep rising. In the early weeks of summer, the total number of weekly visitors hovered at slightly more than 19,300, with the daily average number of visitors at around 1,920.
A major innovation is extensive interactive displays. The exhibit is a slightly pared-down, yet more comprehensive, version of an earlier exhibit, “Out of the Dust.” It tells a
broader story, taking into account the life span of the chapel, according to Linda Hanick, Trinity Parish’s director of special projects.
“’Out of the Dust’ looked at a very specific moment in time, and what happened during those nine months [of the Ground Zero recovery effort]. ‘Unwavering Spirit’ spans the whole chapel’s history, but really has a message of looking forward, of moving toward the future,” she said.
The exhibit’s movable stations display items donated by the public after 9/11 — teddy bears, notes and cards, crosses, patches from firefighters and other workers — and can be
rearranged as needed for events in the chapel. Perhaps the most engaging new features, especially attractive to younger visitors, are the computer stations, which allow users to explore the artifacts archive online, send friends and family e-mail messages with images, and view a video anthology of events from the 9/11 ministry as well as a historical timeline of St. Paul’s. In the back of the chapel, in what used to be the sacristy, there is a large white scroll standing in the middle of the room. The only object in the stark white space, the scroll invites guests to leave messages of hope, remembrance, and condolence.
The messages are saved and archived by chapel staff. Visitors are almost universally touched by the personal nature of the exhibit. “It’s very moving,” said one woman, in a reaction heard repeatedly. Another woman accompanying a high school choir of 75 juniors and seniors from Thief River Falls, Minnesota, said that she was particularly impressed by the respectful reactions of her students as they filed through.
“It’s so different from the newscasts. You have to see it in person,” said a choir director and mother of nine from Houston who was visiting New York City with her mother and three adult sisters, all from Texas.
Pointing to an American flag banner made of outstretched hands—created by schoolchildren in Michigan—that she found particularly touching, she said she had visited St. Paul’s a year ago, and was so moved by the experience that she was compelled to bring her mother and sisters this year.
In fact, it is the personal items displayed in the chapel and at the exhibit stations that make it such an emotional experience for visitors.
“It’s very evocative,” said a young man visiting from Ireland, who said he hadn’t been planning to see the chapel, but happened upon the exhibit by accident. He was especially touched to see items that people left, including the cards and mementos left by children, which make it more personal and moving than viewing the site of the attacks themselves across the street. “Over there, it’s more like a construction site. Here, it brings it all home,” he said.
Recognizing the strong emotional connection that visitors make with the physical artifacts, the chapel’s staff recently hired a team of archivists to catalogue the thousands of personal items that were left on the fence outside St. Paul’s in the days after 9/11,
with the goal of periodically replenishing the ones currently in the exhibit.
“Unlike a museum, there is a personal connection that people make when they come here,” said Alessandra Pena, a chapel staff member. By putting a human face on the loss, the exhibit adds another aspect to the story. “Visitors can go online at home, so they come here for a more visceral experience.”
Hanick sees something else as well: “The exciting observation for me is watching young people come into the chapel….When they come in, they immediately get this look on their faces like, ‘Oh, I’m in church.’ They get kind of quiet and a little self-conscious.”
According to staff, many 9/11 victims’ families and recovery workers from Ground Zero are just now beginning to come back to the chapel for the first time since the attacks. “For a lot of people, it’s taken a very long time to be able to cope with coming back,” said Pena.
Observing visitors file through the exhibit raises the question of whether there is still a ministry occurring at St. Paul’s, and what the nature of that ministry is.
“There’s a lot of ministry that happens around the edges, when you talk to people and ask them where they’re from, and they immediately tell you their story and engage you in a conversation,” Hanick said. “They want to tell you where they were on 9/11, and they also will often then talk about the losses in their own lives that are not connected to 9/11.
“I think people come there with an expectation of having some kind of reflective moment,” she said. “I’ve been describing St. Paul’s as a gateway spiritual experience. It’s a large gate that a lot of people come through, and as they come through, they make some kind of connection, some kind of spiritual connection, whether it’s a prayer, or thinking about something, or thinking about someone.”
Future plans for the chapel and the exhibit are slowly taking shape. There is a unique opportunity to expand on programming and events at the chapel, making it more a part of the community with diverse worship experiences, events, and exhibits.
Despite the installation of the new exhibit, St. Paul’s is not a museum, staff emphasize, but a vibrant, living part of the community.
“There is an exhibit at the chapel right now, so we’re acknowledging that because of its role in 9/11, because of its geography, all these people are coming, and we’re serving their need by telling that story,” Hanick said. “But we want to expand on the chapel as being this vibrant place that can be part of the community.”
Posted on Trinity News, July 28, 2004
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