HI Ken:

I am going to continue to hew and teach others to hew as long as the Good Lord is willing.

I was an interested party, and asked to join the church council as they met with the engineering firm.

My preference was for a properly scarfed joint, one that had a step\cog built right into it, and wedged following guidelines that I had mentioned to them, ones that had stood the test of time, and described in an old joiner's manual.
The manual that I used over many years, written in 1867 was entitled "The Art and Science of Carpentry Made Easy" By William E Bell.

There were many excellent examples of joints that if constructed properly was as strong as the original timber.

This new end of the bottom chord timber was dovetailled into the wood timber plates that in turn sat on and were mortared in place on the stone walls.

Yes I was up a couple of times, and for the time being things look ok. But I expect that 50 or 60 years down the road will be a different story.

I enjoyed your knowledgeable reply, whoever hires you will get their money's worth!!.

NH