I received this tantalizing email from Pastor Daniel Meeter of Old First Church in Park Slope. It definitely piqued my imagination. A story. In the church. Involving teenagers. From Wisconsin.

Why would 63 young adults from Wisconsin voluntarily pay their own way to come out to labor (and camp out) in a Brooklyn church for a week? That’swhat’s happening next week at Old First. Might be an interesting story.

I stopped over there today and saw what’s going on: the 30-foot tall, 116-year-old chandelier in the church’s huge and gorgeous santuary has been lowered. The church was founded in 1654 and was Brooklyn’s first church.

The fixture, dating from 1891’ has four rings of lights and was designed for both electricity and gas power, though the gas has since been disconnected.

These young adults, who call themselves The Tranformers, are from Wisconsin. They’re just here for a week and there’s even a blog about it. They did some sightseeing on Saturday and Sunday and on Monday they got busy in the church. One young woman I spoke to said that they’re sleeping in an open space on the second floor. I think it’s where the church has a nursery school. I saw a young woman sitting on the steps reading the Bible. Another woman had a construciton mask on.

Monday was the first time the chandelier was lowered in ten years for cleaning and renovation, and replacement of 108 bulbs.

I wish I’d been there yesterday. Lowering this chandelier takes half an hour and the cleaning and repair calls for more than 20 volunteers. The chandelier is hung from a steel cable in the church attic, which is fixed to a windlass with six reducing gears. Once the chandelier is brought down scaffolding is required to reach the top ring of lights.

There are 60 volunteers in all from the Gibbsville Reformed Church in Gibbsville, Wisconsin. This is their second trip to Brooklyn. Three years ago they put a new roof on the New Brooklyn Reformed Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Not only do they donate their labor, they pay their own travel, room, and board just to work at these Brooklyn churches. They have also done work projects in Appalachia. Professional electricians, carpenters, and builders are part of the group, not to mention college students, farmers, and school teachers.

Today there was an informational sign outside of the church explaining what was going on inside and inviting people in. Old First Reformed Church, located on Seventh Ave and Carroll Street, in Park Slope, will be open to the public all week for viewing the lowering, cleaning, and repair, and the raising again on Thursday or Friday.

Pay a visit and offer a warm welcome to these folks from Wisconsin.