By Fred Steiner
Eariler this year I was asked a couple questions concerning the church key belonging to St. Mary's Catholic Church, since I grew up across the street from it. I wrote this brief article for the church history and share it with Icon viewers.
My parents were Nelson and Margaret Steiner.
We lived at 201 North Lawn Avenue, across from the old building, which faced Lawn. Rev. John Hiltz, the pastor, became good friends with our family. The building remained locked when not in use and he wasn’t in the church every day.
This was in the era prior to dial phones in the late 1950s. I don’t even think the church had a phone.
The usual members who needed to get into the church included Harry Turner, Charles Hankish, Hillary Kimmet and some others. The problem was that since the church was locked someone had to keep a key. So, either Rev. Hiltz or the Kimmet family asked if we could keep a key available for easy access to the building. Kimmets mowed the church lawn.
We were good Methodists and this key invitation was a great ecumenical idea for everyone involved. Prior to Hiltz there was no such key arrangement. I believe a Rev. Yeager was the priest before Hiltz. He was the key keeper.
The key hung on a nail inside our back door - or maybe it hung on a nail “outside” our back door. Since we never locked our house - hardly anyone did in Bluffton - that was the only key on the nail. Our house key was a skeleton key and didn’t work very well anyway.
I’m not certain if there were one or two keys. The old church had three entrances. There were two front doors, one to the pastor’s study - accessible via a stairway in the back of the church - and a third door, which was to the basement. That door was on the Elm Street side, but it was seldom used.
The key was used on the honor system. Since only a few of the church members knew the key existed, it was never an issue. Most of the members who needed to get into the church parked on the Elm Street side - facing Main Street. Very seldom did they park on our side of the street. (Interesting observation, don’t know why that was.)
Anyway, we recognized the members’ cars, who we could also tell who was in the church. For example, Harry Turner had a beautiful green Nash Rambler.
I recall a couple times when tramps knocked on our back door asking if the priest was in next door. These must have been Catholics because they usually said they’d mow the lawn at the church or do something to get some money or food. I recall Rev. Hiltz received one and gave him a small clean up job and I’m guessing gave him money.
I believe that the church key project ended when the new building was constructed in the mid-1960s. The old building remained in place after the new building was occupied. Eventually the congregation had to make an emotional decision on what to do with the old building.
The decision in the late 1960s was to raze the building.
That was certainly the end of the key project and looking back, it certainly made an interesting story.
