Bright tower of faith.

• Author: Ceasar, Mike
• Position: !Ojo!

WHEN THE TINY CHOIR of St. George's in Georgetown, Guyana, sings, its notes rise and rise and continue rising-eighty feet, to the ceiling of one of the worlds tallest wooden buildings.

The notes will continue rising each Sunday for many years to come, thanks to an ongoing renovation of the 109-year-old cathedral.

"The cathedral is really part of the social fabric of Guyana," says Sheila George, who has worshiped there for thirty-two years and is the wife of Bishop Randolph George. "People who worship here are really attached to it. They feel it's part of their being Guyanese."

At 135 feet, the cathedral is a landmark in downtown Georgetown, a city rich in huge wooden buildings built by the British during the colonial era. It was constructed between 1889 and 1894, the third Anglican church to be built on the site. A gothic-style building, shaped like a Latin cross, 187 feet long and 103 feet wide, it makes a dramatic contrast to the plain and modern wooden buildings surrounding it. inside, as many as fifteen hundred worshippers can sit under the brown pitchpine ceiling and admire the stained-glass windows. But the years have also brought troubles to SL. George's--compounded by the naivete of its English architect who had never visited Guyana and designed a roof with various gullies, which have been problematic during a century of tropical rains.

The centennial renovation, paid for by contributions from Guyana and abroad, included the replacement of the roof, which had become a home for bats; repainting; and cleaning. And, while the major work was done during the 1990s, the scaffolding and missing ceiling boards on the north transept show that work continues. More work awaits. Because the organ has yet to be repaired, the organist now plays the piano.

"It's a constant work on this building," says Father Terry Davis, "because wood rots."

A towering symbol of the British empire at its zenith, St. George's has witnessed the...