Rooster Weathervane
Weather- or wind-vanes have sat high atop manmade structures since at least 50 years before the birth of Christ. In the 9th Century A.D., the Pope decreed that every church in Europe prominently display a cock on its dome or steeple as a reminder of Jesus' prophecy that the cock would not crow the morning after the Last Supper until the disciple Peter had renounced Him three times (Luke 22:34). These static images of cocks eventually converted to moving weathercocks or vanes, and Chaucer mentions these turning in the wind in 13th or 14th Century England.
On the morning of June 27, 1982, the Hope Church congregation held a special Service of Dedication for its restored tower and steeple. Present at the service was the Reverend James Van Hoeven, pastor of the historic First Church of Albany, New York, one of the oldest Reformed Churches in America. With him was a gift from that church to Hope Church--a replica of the oldest weathervane in the United States. This was a rooster, made of beaten brass, fresh from the Netherlands. The original (now in First Church of Albany's museum) graced the steeple of the Albany church for several centuries from the year 1656. It symbolizes the cock that crowed when Peter denied Christ - a call to be true to the faith.
The gift to Hope Church, the Reverend Van Hoeven stated as he presented it, was in commemoration, especially, of the visit by Dr. Isaac Wykcoff from Albany to Holland colony in 1849 to invite Albertus Van Raalte and his followers to join the Dutch Reformed Church in the United States.
In his acceptance of the weathervane, Elder Ekdal Buys, vice-president of the Hope Church consistory, commented:
"I trust, Reverend Jim, that your journey here did not parallel that of Dr. Wykcoff. History tells us that he used stagecoach from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, then steamboat to Detroit, and finally to the shores of Black Lake by a team and wagon. With Dr. Van Raalte and others he followed to Indian Trails, from one clearing and settlement to another. His purpose was to influence the colony to merge with the Reformed Church in America. Dr. Wykcoff and his companions eve swam the Black River to reach Groningen and spent the evening with the Rev. Vander Meulen in Zeeland. It is interesting to note that in Zeeland they were 'lavished with bread, butter, and coffee' before departing for Vriesland.
For further information regarding the history of weathervanes, the reader is referred to the following websites:
www.zionuccstjoe.org/Zion_UCC_Rooster_Steeple_Page.html
www.denninger.com/history.htm