St. Stephen’s goes electronic to minister to the hard of hearing
These vintage Trimm Featherweight Bakelite headphones, that Eleanor Macchia of St. Stephen’s recently unearthed somewhere in the church, tell us much. They are witnesses to the later phase of St. Stephen’s engagement with the deaf through its mission to the hard of hearing beginning in 1946. That year, under its rector The Rev. Alfred W. Price, St. Stephen’s added such modern technology for a new community, those with hearing loss up to 85%. Hearing aids were installed in sections throughout the church and connected with microphones at the altar, prayer desk, pulpit, lectern and choir. I don’t know if this model dates from those first years. To further serve this group, St. Stephen’s also hired The Rev. Gustav C. Meckling, himself hard of hearing, who had been ministering to the Episcopal hard of hearing in a dedicated chapel and continued to do so elsewhere over the years. During Lent, these worshippers filled the newly equipped St. Stephen’s at midday services and a special Sunday evening service for them. When Rev. Meckling deemed the headphone program less urgent as the technology of personal hearing aids improved, he and his wife Jane--originally his instructor in speech reading--remained dedicated to the hard of hearing and to St. Stephen’s into the 1980s, lending help and financial support. Their daughter, The Rev. Judith Meckling, continued to minister to the Deaf and hard of hearing at Philadelphia’s All Soul’s Church for the Deaf.
I convey this story on the day marking Rev. Meckling’s death in 1999 (January 26) to honor his contribution to St. Stephen’s and to the community of the hard of hearing. For all his impact, his was such a quiet presence that I haven’t yet found a photograph of him--or an obituary. Thus I include a photograph of his wife and partner in advocacy, Jane, which appeared with her obituary at her death at age 99 in 2018.
—Suzanne Glover Lindsay, St. Stephen’s historian