Today’s
subject of the Saints of St. Mary’s is different from all of the others. Some
of you are familiar with the two previous installments of this sermon series
about our parish’s spiritual ancestors. All those whose stories I’ve told
before were members of this congregation. Today’s saint comes to St. Mary’s by
cross pollination. You’ve noticed by now that in addition to offering prayers
in the name of our patroness, we mention the name of St. George often. Our
choir and our chapel are named for him. St. George came to St. Mary’s through a
merger of two congregations in the 1980s. St. George’s Church had a long
history on Kansas City’s east side. The end of its time came about 30 years ago
when its members and its memories became a part of St. Mary’s. Today’s subject
is the Rev’d. Charles Tyner who served as rector of St. George’s from 1923
until 1952. Like Fr. Betts, he came to St. Mary’s from the Diocese of Nebraska.
Like Fr. Jardine and Thomas Pain, he came by way of eastern Canada. Unlike any
other priest who served in West Missouri, his first career was as a
professional athlete.
The
Toronto Professionals were Canada’s first pro hockey team. In 1908 they won the
championship of the Ontario Professional Hockey League. On March 14 of that
year they met the Montreal Wanderers, champions of the Eastern Canada Amateur
Hockey Association, in a match for the Stanley Cup. Toronto’s goal tender was
Chuck Tyner. He was well known on Toronto’s east side as a gifted athlete: a
champion amateur boxer and a talented baseball and lacrosse player as well as
the rather elderly goal-tender of the Toronto Professionals. His teammates were
still in their teens or barely out of them. Tyner was well into his twenties,
his long playing years probably due partly to his natural athleticism and
partly because goalies experience less wear and tear than their teammates.
If your first thought
was that March 14 seems awfully early for a Stanley Cup match, there are a
couple of reason for that. In the early 20th century, the Stanley
Cup was awarded on a challenge basis. Any team who thought they could beat the
current champions could petition the commissioners and request a match. In the 1908 matchup, Toronto was the challenger.
The Wanderers had held the cup the previous two years. The match was played on
Toronto’s home ice, housed in a wood frame building in the city’s downtown. The
building seated five thousand spectators and was used for a variety of sports.
It had a concrete floor with a recessed area surrounded by the seats. In the winter, they flooded the floor and let
mother nature create the rink. The season had to end before the spring thaw.
The Wanderers won the cup that year 6-4 on two late goals. Chuck Tyner retired
from professional sports the following year and enrolled in seminary.
As with nearly all of
the subjects of this sermon series, there’s quite a lot written about him, but
very little of it is introspective. We know nothing about Fr. Tyner’s call to
ministry . We know that he married a Canadian woman by the name of Mary, but we
don’t know what moved him to come to the United States. He next turns up in 1916, mentioned in an
article in the Toronto World newspaper.
It reads “old timers remember Chuck Tyner, all round amateur athlete and
sportsman of the east end, proficient in lacrosse, baseball, hockey and boxing. Rev.
Mr. Tyner is home from Lincoln, Nebraska where he has had a charge for several
years, anxious to go to the front with the Sportsmen's Battalion. He is, of
course, eligible as chaplain and his qualifications in the above games should
give him preference over most preachers. Mr. Tyner has aged imperceptibly. He
will present his credentials today to Lieut. Col. Greer.”
The Sportsmen’s
Battalion was a military unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World
War I. For whatever reason, Fr. Tyner’s application to it was not successful. A
year later the Ottawa Journal notes
that “the Rev. Charles “Chuck” Tyner who played for Marlboro of Toronto several
years ago and later with Branford and Montreal is going overseas with an
American contingent.” He did serve in World War I, but in the US Army, rather
than the Canadian. He left behind his
congregation at St. Luke’s in Lincoln when he departed for Europe.
When
he returned to Nebraska in 1919, he was called to the position of Dean at St.
Mark’s pro-Cathedral in Hastings. St. Mark’s was the first church to be built
west of Grand Island. All evidence indicates that Dean Tyner was popular, a
sociable man with a great sense of humor and a skill for building community. In
the congregation’s history on its web site, the comment on him is “who will
ever forget this human dynamo.” Under his leadership, St. Mark’s engaged Ralph
Adams Cram, one of the greatest architects of his generation, to design its new
building. In an elaborate ceremony in September 1921, leaders of the
congregation broke ground for the new building and the bishop laid the
cornerstone in December, 1922. A few months later, Charles Tyner accepted a
call from St. George’s Church in Kansas City. Again, we don’t know why he
relinquished the position of dean to become a parish priest.
At
St. George’s his lively temperament and skill at building community were
apparent. His name and picture appeared frequently in the newspapers. He spoke
regularly to community groups and took a leadership role among the city’s
clergy. Diocesan publications note the affection and respect that his
colleagues had for him. His athletic interests didn’t fade as he entered into
middle age. Fr. Tyner served as the president of the Kansas City Figure Skating
Club and as a judge at its local competitions. He was seen frequently on the
ice as a referee in local amateur hockey games.
During
the course of Fr. Tyner’s rectorship, St. George’s reached a great
milestone: the congregation paid off the
mortgage on their church building. An elaborate celebration was planned with
the Eucharist followed by a reception at which the mortgage would be
ceremonially burned. A week before the date of the party, Fr. Tyner was injured
in a rather serious car accident, necessitating a stay in the hospital. He was
determined that the party would not be rescheduled and that he would be there.
He spent the week persuading the attending physician to release him from the
hospital long enough to attend. The doctor agreed, but only if he traveled by
ambulance on a stretcher and did not rise from it for any reason. Fr. Tyner
agreed. Another priest was engaged to preach and celebrate and the Kansas City
Star carried a picture of Fr. Tyner, lying on a stretcher in his clerical
collar with a huge grin on his face as ambulance attendants carried him into
St. George’s.
Another
anecdote comes from two of my colleagues – The Rev’d. Harry Firth, known to
some of you and the Rev’d. Bill Beachy. Both of them knew Fr. Tyner personally.
They were newly ordained around the time he retired. He had not forgotten his
days as a champion amateur boxer on a day when he was pulled over for speeding.
When the officer came to the side of his car and informed him why he was being
cited, Fr. Tyner opened the door and stepped out of the car. He raised his
hands, closed his fists and playfully suggested that the two of them engage in
an informal boxing match to determine whether or not he would receive a ticket.
Neither of my colleagues knew what the officer’s reaction was to this challenge
from a man in a clerical collar.
He retired in 1952. He and Mrs. Tyner
remained in Kansas City until his death in the mid-1960s. Twelve years after
his retirement, the Star carried an
account of an event organized by the altar guild of St. George’s, honoring Fr.
and Mrs. Tyner. In the Missouri Valley Special Collection of local historical
documents at our downtown library, you can see a scroll presented to the two of
them at this event, expressing the affection and respect of the St. George’s
Altar Guild. All of its members’ signatures appear on the scroll.
Fr. Tyner’s obituary in the diocesan
newsletter gives a sense of the great affection and respect felt for this
energetic and faithful man with a great sense of humor. St. George’s Church
continued on only about two decades after his passing.
There is a season for everything.
Nothing but God is eternal, but the divine is present in all creation, in the
love we hold for one another that lives on. St. Mary’s received the gift of the
history and legacy of St. George’s church when the two merged nearly three
decades ago. God calls all of us. With some that call is clearly articulated
and documented; with others the particulars of it remain mysterious but the
reality of the call is unmistakable. With some people vocation is a clear and
obvious path from childhood, through adolescence and into young adulthood. With
others, the vocational path remains hidden early on, becoming clear only later
in life, but there is no mistaking its truth. The story of St. George’s Church
reminds us that we do not know the future holds. We can only remain faithful as
it unfolds before us. Charles Tyner did that, with energy, good humor and
devotion and today for his ministry we give thanks.
A portrait of Fr. Tyner as Rector of St. George's
Team photo of the 1908 Toronto Professionals. I think Charles Tyner is at the left end of the second row.
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