NORWICH – A 145-year-old religious relic has gone missing.
At some point in the past year, a pair of ancient pewter chalices were removed from their display case in the Broad Street United Methodist Church’s congregation hall. While one of the chalices has since been recovered, the other is still missing. Church authorities were unaware the prized artifacts were unaccounted for until they began gearing up for their June heritage celebration and discovered to their horror the chalices’ display case had not been properly fastened shut.
The chalices are part of a communion service set along with a large solid pewter flagon. The communion service set was gifted to the church by one of its founders, Ansel Berry, in 1870, and was one of only five sets ever crafted by Reed and Barton, placing the date of its conception somewhere between 1865 and 1870. The set was later lost to the church when its caretaker, Mr. King, moved away from the region. The pewter communion set traversed the hands of an assortment of antiquity dealers before it fell into the possession of a Mr. John J.D. Feyko. Feyko conducted a thorough inquiry of the set’s origins, discovering the Broad Street United Methodist Church to be its rightful owners. After a restoration of the antiques, Feyko donated the set back to the church with no stipulations for the parish’s 100-year anniversary in 1973 of the construction of its current place of worship.
Ever since, the communion service set has rested in a display case situated to the left of the congregation hall’s main entrance coming through the doors.
“I think someone must have taken it thinking it was made of silver, not realizing it is in fact just pewter,” said Reverend Nancy Hale, Broad Street United Methodist Church Pastor.
During the 11th century, the Council at Winchester in England decreed that all parishes unable to afford chalices made from gold or silver were to replace their current wooden sets with ones crafted from pewter.
“Judging by the number of pewter communion services that are yet extant in our country today, many of our early churches began their services to God, poor in pocket,” wrote Feyko when he donated the communion set back to the Norwich church.
The recovered pewter chalice was taken to Skillin’s Jewelers in Norwich for an assessment. While the chalice is worth about $200, considering the age and density of the relic, a suitable replacement could actually cost the church as much as $1,000.
“It’s not really worth too much in a monetary sense, but it is an invaluable part of our church’s history,” said Hale. “Our hope is maybe someone has it without realizing it, as it is not marked, and we hope they will return it free of charge instead of holding it ransom. We would love to have it back.”
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of the missing pewter cup should call 334-2895.