THE prayers of Brentwood churchgoers, who have endured years of soaking sermons, were finally answered when the vicar at St Thomas' Church climbed onto the roof and secured the last replacement tile.
Mops and buckets have been the must-have accessory for the congregation at the 160-year-old Anglican church since 2001, with the slate roof being more holey than holy.
Over the years carpets and furniture have been destroyed when the heavens opened, leaving the church with its fair share of drenched brides and wet funerals.
The huge 12-year rally round has mustered a total of £355,000, which was needed to replace the decrepit 90,000 tile roof.
In November the church got in touch with the Gazette and a bit of publicity had readers digging deep for a final push for the remaining £20,000 required.
"Absolutely amazing" is how Fr Colin Hewitt, the parish vicar, described the effort, generosity and commitment of the Brentwood community at large.
It was his privilege to place a golden tile (not real gold), a gift from a church group in Roth, Germany, which is twinned with Brentwood, to mark the end of the renovation.
"Most of it was raised locally by our congregation and mistakenly people think the Church of England is funded by the Government but that's not the case," he said.
"But it was local people, local businesses and building charities that helped us succeed.
"Over those 12 years we have had all sorts of activities, concerts, fetes and imaginative events like the Teddy Bear Jump, which was very popular.
"I want to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped us.
"Comparatively it's not the most exciting of tasks because in that time we have also had to restore the bells and the organ at £140,000 and people can see and hear those things, so the roof was a very hard task but a necessary one."
The latest phase, which finished earlier this month, was one of 12 separate replacement works, which were completed from north to south.
On top of the hallowed building is a new state-of-the-art alarm system and the cash has also been used to restore timber work and mend the roof's structure.
Fr Colin says the church's next big building project is to work on the people using the church.
He added: "I've had people say 'why are you keeping this monument open?'
"I think it's an important reminder of our forefathers, a reminder of how our town has developed, and it's so important that it's kept open for the community to visit."
