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Stratford Chapel
For those of us who remember our lessons in history and literature we know that William Shakespeare was born in England in the town of Stratford on Avon in 1564. As we delve deeper into the life of Shakespeare, we now know that he was baptized and buried at the Holy Trinity Church, built in the year 1210 in this same picturesque town that is nestled on the banks of the Avon River. At first blush it is this life, the life of William Shakespeare, that many will assume we are speaking of when we discuss Stratford Chapel but indeed our story revolves around a small boy and a family by the name of Key and how their tragedy brought them closer to the Lord and a service to his church on both sides of the Atlantic ocean.
In 1968 during a family vacation in Europe young Rodney Key was badly burned over eighty percent of his body when he fell into a vat of boiling hot water. The Key family was isolated on a small island off the coast of Italy and had no other options than to call a group of Catholic nuns who dressed the young boy's wounds and sped him off to a local hospital.
The burns were severe and the boy couldn't be moved and yet the small town clinic could not offer the best medical care in this dire situation. Norman Key, Rodney's father was beside himself with grief and worry and in the absence of any tangible qualified medical help the boy's father turned to prayer.
He remembered his youth and of being taught to pray in the Clopton Chapel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford on Avon, England. He remembered the sights and the sounds of this large edifice and he spoke to God in the ways in which he was taught. It was proper prayer that at first centered on repeating age-old prayers and in time turned to scripture and some deep soul searching. Norman Key made peace with accepting God's will but made a promise to return to his faith at the Stratford Chapel of his youth if his son was spared.
In a matter of days the wounds of the young boy began to heal. A special salve that the nuns had used for centuries was instrumental in bringing young Rod back to full health. Modern medicine was matched in this ancient island village of Malta, by deeply religious nuns who applied herbal medicine that had worked miracles for centuries. Young Rodney Key's only hope for survival was the handiwork of these dedicated women who had an intimate knowledge of the miracle of prayer.
Within a week, young Rodney was sitting up and ingesting liquids and In several weeks the boy again had use of his arms and legs.
In thirty days the Key family returned to their home in England and Norman Key began a renewed life of prayer and good works. Rodney Key also began his prayer life at the Stratford Chapel and knew someday that he along with his father would dedicate a portion of their work life to the memory of this family miracle. Stratford Chapel and the pursuit of fine religious printing is a reminder to the Key family of that special time when the good Lord spared the life of young Rodney Key.
Autom is proud to be the exclusive partner of Stratford Chapel here in the United States and we look forward to supplying your church or school with the finest quality inspirational printing, inspired by old world English lithography merged with state of the art computer to plate personalized printing. We are excited to present to all of our customers a brand new technology inspired by a church that Christians have worshipped at for over 1100 years. We thank the Key family for the opportunity to serve our customers with this exciting new service and look forward to pursuing printing excellence with the premier personalized inspirational printer in the World
"Come, let us bow down and worship Him;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
He is our God;
we are the people He cares for,
the flock for which He provides"
Psalm 95: 6-7
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