"A Monument of Love"-Sermon for the Funeral of Al York, Jan 10, 2026:
Though there are many architectural wonders that exist in the city of London…both ancient and modern…perhaps at the center of them all is St. Paul’s Cathedral…a sacred space considered by many to be the very heart of London. This was true perhaps more than ever during World War II…during the blitz…for following each round of devastating, almost unendurable bombings…as the people of London emerged from their bunkers, basements and tube stations…and as they looked up and saw the great dome over the cathedral with the cross at its peak still standing strong…it was a profound sign of hope…hope that they would overcome their present darkness…hope that the promise to which that cross atop St. Paul’s points all of us would endure…for it directs us to Jesus…and to the promise that in Jesus’ resurrection…love is eternal…that beyond this sin sick and sorely divided world…life wins…for life and love is what stands at the end of all things and for all people from everlasting to everlasting. And, it is this hopeful proclamation that we gather to proclaim today in the very midst of our profound experience of loss and the grief we carry…that through the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord…Al is more alive than he has ever previously been. That he is healed…standing with head held high, probably with a sketch pad and pencil in hand, feasting among the saints of God, including all those we love and no longer see from everlasting to everlasting.
Now, I knew enough of St. Paul’s history, when I first visited it in-person in my early 20’s, to know that the current cathedral was completed in the early 1700’s designed by the great English architect Christopher Wren, after the previous cathedral was burned to the ground during the Great Fire of London. But, I learned that Christopher Wren was also buried in the cathedral at that first visit. I was exploring the crypt of the church underneath the worship space in awe of the countless marble tombs containing princes of the people and of the church alike. Most of the tombs were adorned in intricately carved statues…likeness of those whose remains they contained…some with crowns of gold on their heads…and long epitaphs on their sides in elegant script describing various deeds of glory accomplished in the lives they lived. And, while lost in the awe of it all…I stumbled across a very simple unadorned tomb, tucked away in a corner of the crypt with a very short epitaph inscribed on a plaque above it bearing Christopher Wren’s name. The plaque states, “Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.”
Now, St. Julian’s, where we gather today to give thanks for the life and works of love of the great American architect Al York, is not St. Paul’s Cathedral. But, friends, I still say to you…look around you…look around you. For the vision for this sacred space emerged in large measure from the heart and mind of Al. And, it is one of many monuments to the life he lived and all he created. And, we too are a place from which the holy hope of God’s love shines brightly into our own sin sick and sorely divided world. The church we have built and those many who gather within its walls and windows also point to the Easter promise that, in Jesus’ glorious resurrection, life and love are stronger even than death…for Al and for each of us…and I believe this is the hope of the world So, today we give thanks to the God of resurrection for Al’s life and to proclaim our great Easter hope that death is more gate than grave…that Al and, in the fulness of time, each of us will take our place in the eternal habitations where there is no sorrow and pain…only life…that is everlasting.
(please forward slide) Now, the church we gather in today is phase one of a Master Plan that will include a larger church that will sit just to the east of us on this property…the direction of the rising sun. And, on the screen, are some hand drawn renderings of that church that Al created as we dreamed of what this church has already become and is still yet to be. And, in those drawings Al designed a tower for that new church still to come that has three levels. The bottom of the tower will open to the outdoors and contain a grotto chapel that leads to the memorial garden where Al’s own remains will soon be interred. And, at the top level of the tower, like at the top of St. Paul’s, is a cross that will be seen from a great distance, as this property sits at a high point in this community. And, the center of the tower will open into the church and contain our full immersion baptismal font. And, the wall of the grotto chapel just below it will be a waterfall, as if the water from the baptismal font is flowing down from it, through the chapel, and into the memorial Garden and Columbarium. Al’s genius was to symbolically connect, through the waters of baptism, death to life…the place we inter the remains of our loved ones to the cross in the heavens…with the font in between. This sacred architecture is a powerful symbol of our faith in the power of love to set us all free…free from all the principalities and powers of darkness…even death itself. But, it is no mere symbol, it is a reflection of Al’s faith…what he believed about God…that nothing could separate us from the love of God, not even death, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
And, friends, as you well know…as those who loved Al so very much, the greatest works of love that Al created and shared with the world are not made of bricks and mortar…but the stronger bonds of love and affection he forged with Sharon, with his three exceptional boys, Dylan, Anthony and Ryan…with his extended family and his many friends and colleagues…with the countless students he blessed and gave life to…in his service to Rawson-Saunders School…in the love he gave and received…in his kindness…in his desire for justice and in his advocacy for the most vulnerable. Yet, even in this midst of the great good news at the heart of Al’s own faith and even in the midst of the profound gratitude we feel for our time spent with Al and all that he accomplished among us…we also rightfully grieve today and in the days that follow…there is sadness, often all the way down to our toes. It will take time and tears to learn to live with All in a new way. The goodness, beauty and love he brought into our world and lives, these will in time be, and even now are becoming, memories that bring us life and great joy…but for now it is all right if they are also mingled with a profound sense of loss.
As we grieve the death of our own loved ones, I often recall that Jesus wept at the tomb of his own friend Lazarus at his passing. Thus, the grief, sadness, and the tears that come and go are indeed holy. As people suffused with God’s love…that is as loving, caring people…we should and do naturally grieve. This grief witnesses to our capacity to love, and it witnesses to our faithful love for Al…each tear says to him…see how much we love you…you are dear to us and we care for you…we love you…you matter and will not be forgotten. Author, Jamie Anderson, writes, “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” But, what makes our grief holy as people whose eyes are set on the cross that Al helps point us to…is the Christ-centered hope that accompanies it. For even when we grieve, we grieve not as people without hope…but as people with profound hope that our mourning will be turned to gladness…for Easter indeed promises that life and love are the end for Al and all who live…even you, even me.
So, when life is hard, as it often is…when missing Al…or other loved ones…or just things feel heavy…the weight of our broken world heaped upon your shoulders, I hope you will always feel welcome here. Feel welcome to come and sit with Al in the Memorial Garden he helped design…for death is more gate than grave. Al remains with us…we just now learn to live with him in a new way. Come and gaze upon this sacred space….and that tower that will most assuredly be built soon and very soon…and which I can see with the eyes of my heart even now…all a monument to Al’s life and work and faith. That you might be reminded that through our Lord’s glorious resurrection death leads to life…that life and love win…that life and love shall overcome our grief and this present darkness…that life and love are the end for Al…for those we love and no longer see…and for each of us. Or, as in the words of Julian of Norwich, our Matron Saint in this sacred space…quoted by TS Elliot and shared with us today by Kelly on Sharon’s behalf…all shall be well…all shall be well…in all manner of things…all shall be well. Amen.