Article published November 28, 2009
Sacred spaces spotlighted: 'Holy Toledo' documentary to make debut
First Presbyterian Church of Maumee, one of the houses of worship featured in WGTE's ‘Holy Toledo' program, was the first church building in northwest Ohio.
|
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Nearly three dozen houses of worship - possibly the inspirations for the popular phrase "Holy Toledo" - are the stars of a new documentary that will premier at 8 p.m. Thursday on WGTE-TV, Channel 30.
The program, simply titled Holy Toledo, takes a look at local churches, synagogues, and one mosque that are notable for their historic and architectural aspects.
No one knows for sure the origin of the phrase "Holy Toledo," a narrator explains at the start of the show.
Some trace it to vaudevillians who joked that "opening night in Toledo was like Holy Week everywhere else."
| Churches in ‘Holy Toledo' |
Here is a list of the houses of worship filmed for WGTE-TV's Holy Toledo documentary:
• Early Congregations: First Presbyterian of Maumee; Ashland Avenue Baptist (now Ebenezer Baptist Church); Trinity Episcopal; St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church; B'Nai Israel Synagogue (now the True Church of God of the Apostolic Faith); Salem Lutheran, and First United Church of Christ.
• Ethnic Churches:
Irish: Historic Church of St. Patrick; Good Shepherd; Immaculate Conception Catholic.
Polish: St. Hedwig; St. Adalbert; St. Anthony Catholic.
German: Sacred Heart Catholic; St. Mark's Lutheran; Martin Luther Church; St. John's South Side; St. Mary Catholic Church.
Hispanic: Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church.
Hungarian: St. Stephen Catholic Church; Calvin United Church of Christ.
Ukrainian: St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church in Rossford.
French: St. Joseph Catholic Church, Toledo.
African American: Third Baptist.
Lebanese: St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral.
Greek: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral
• Collingwood Avenue/Old West End: First Baptist (now First Church of God); Collingwood Presbyterian; First Unitarian (now the Worship Center); Second Church of Christ, Scientist (now the Church of the Living God); St. Mark's Episcopal; Rosary Cathedral Catholic; First Congregational Church; Old Collingwood Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim; First Church of Christ Scientist (now United Missionary Baptist Church); St. Ann Catholic Church (now St. Martin de Porres)
• Suburban: St. Joseph Catholic Church and St. Paul's Episcopal, Maumee; St. Rose Catholic Church and Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Perrysburg, and St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, Sylvania. |
|
|
Others believe the phrase arose during the Prohibition era when criminals sought refuge in "Holy Toledo" because police wouldn't arrest them if they abided by the law while in town.
A third possible origin for the phrase was that it referred to Toledo, Spain, a haven of religious activity.Whatever the origins of "Holy Toledo," faith has been an important part of the lives of people in northwest Ohio for well over a century.
The program, which will be broadcast in high-definition video, is divided into four segments: "First Churches," "Ethnic Churches," "Collingwood and the Old West End," and "The Suburbs."
Its format features a mix of still photos and videos of the sacred spaces, focusing on their distinctive architecture and craftsmanship, accompanied by background music as the narrator cites significant dates and pertinent facts.
The first house of worship in Holy Toledo is, appropriately, the oldest church building in the area: First Presbyterian Church of Maumee.
The congregation was founded in 1820 and although the church's interior has been renovated and the facility expanded, it retains its puritan charm and the original building still serves as a chapel.
Mr. Tye said he and his crew made a decision early in the planning process to focus on historic buildings rather than congregations. That ruled out some religious groups that have deep roots in the Toledo area but which moved into modern quarters.
The program uses a stream of photos with narration, rather than interviews with historians or scenes of worship services, because it allowed the producers to keep things moving at a fast clip and feature the maximum number of congregations possible.
One challenge with such a format was trying to keep the documentary from looking like a "PowerPoint presentation" or a slide show, Mr. Tye added.
But he wanted to make the most of the opportunity because, in his 18 years as a producer at WGTE, he found that he rarely has had a chance to revisit a documentary subject.
"I got to the point where I just included them, saying, 'I've got to do this one, I've got to do that this one,'•" Mr. Tye said. "At some point I realized that some may not make it to air."
Among the early churches featured in Holy Toledo are Trinity Episcopal, First Congregational, and St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.
Interestingly, all three of those congregations got their start in the same 1830s frame building, at Cherry and Superior streets, before moving out and building their own churches.
The program looks at 17 ethnic churches that were founded in the 1800s to cater to the spiritual needs of immigrants arriving from Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland, and other nations.
Mr. Tye said one of the biggest surprises for him in filming Holy Toledo was St. Michael's Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church in Rossford.
"I had never heard of it before," he said. "But I was kind of surprised and amazed by that tiny church."
He said St. Michael's Ukrainian has a dwindling congregation because the parishioners are getting older and there are fewer people in the region who speak Ukrainian.
Another surprise in making the documentary, he said, was spending time at First Congregational Church, built on Collingwood Boulevard in 1914, where he was impressed by the 16 magnificent Tiffany stained-glass windows.
At a press preview for the program earlier this week, Mr. Tye said he was still tweaking the show and didn't know exactly how many houses of worship would be included in Thursday's broadcast. The ones that are edited out of the program, however, will be featured on a DVD and on the station's Web site, he added.
Marlon Kiser, WGTE's president and chief executive, said the local PBS affiliate has been wanting to produce the program for about 10 years.
"We're pleased that we're finally able to tell this rich and important story," he said, adding that producers need to wait until they could "put the dimes together to make it happen."
- David Yonke
Permanent Link
|
|
 |
|
Search
advertisement
