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A QUICK TOUR of CALVARY CHURCH |
On the ground floor, there are
interesting things wherever you look! Of particular note are:
1. The carved walnut stalls in
the Sanctuary.
2. The brass and polychrome
marble pulpit, given in 1891. Note four Evangelists.
3. The brass lectern, given
also in 1891, but totally contrasting. Note four figures holding items.
4. The brass chandeliers,
cleaned in 1991 to restore original luster.
5. Sanctuary light, of ruby
glass and brass, reputedly brought from a Spanish Cathedral.
6. Paintings on walls of
Sanctuary - South: "The Crucifixion," given about 1874;
and North: "The Nativity," also given about 1874. Both are
copies of paintings by Victor Nehlig. Some say that these were temporary
coverings of the spaces meant to contain stained glass windows, but the money
was never raised!
7. The Organ. Built by the
Canadian firm of Casavant in 1965, it contains 1,913
pipes and has 2 manuals and 39 ranks. In 1980, the Trompette en Chamade was
donated by Mrs C. D. Dosker and installed above the library. Nothing is known
about the 1860 organ, but Clarke and Company built the first of record in 1877,
followed by a Hook (and Hastings?) instrument in 1903.
That's a Quick Tour of Calvary!
Remain for a closer look if you like.
Calvary Episcopal Church was founded on December 24, 1860, when the
congregation of Sehon Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Church seceded from
that denomination and became part of the Episcopal Church. During the Civil War
and following years, the congregation continued to worship in the former Sehon
Chapel, while pursuing plans for a new structure. On July 2, 1872, the
cornerstone was laid, and the front portion of the present structure was built
at 821 South Fourth Street.
You are invited to take a quick
tour with us. The space from which you entered Calvary is most likely the north
entry, which was just completed in 1999, and is designed to be a welcoming and
hospitable place for us to serve the needs of all who enter, especially the
poor, the weak, and the lost. Entering from the library, you see the original
1872 part, which included the transcepts and chancel areas (the front). In
1888, the building was completed. It is built in Victorian Gothic Revival
style, and utilizes two types of limestone on the exterior. Excellent qualities
of blue limestone from Pewee Valley and Indiana limestone were used, even to
the unique stone towers. It is easy to tell the 1872 part from the 1888 part
when you go outside. On November 10, 1998, the cross blew off the south tower,
bouncing and making holes in the roof, and then breaking into three parts. The
bottom third wedged in the gutter.
Looking upward in the nave, we see
that the ceiling is patterned after the famous hammerbeam roof of Westminster
Hall in London. It is open truss, in late Gothic style, 70 feet high, arched,
with hammer beams enriched with tracery. As you look downward, the windows are
the first things to catch your eye. The remarkable diversity reflected in
Calvary's windows was perhaps the first inkling that Calvary would become, in
human form, a church known for its diversity - housing parishioners and
ministering to others, both with distinct and contrasting needs. We pride
ourselves on our tolerance for a wide variety of opinions, and specialize in
inquiring into the most diverse and disturbing problems confronting people in
these times. The subjects of these windows and their techniques represent the
different attitudes and achievements of the late Victorian era.
Let us glance at each window,
beginning at the east end (front), with a real Tiffany window! This
depicts the Ascension of our Lord. Continuing on past the organ pipes, the next
one is also a Tiffany, the Good Shepherd. The third window in the south
transcept, showing Christ with children, is one of the earliest windows, and
may have been transferred from Sehon Chapel. Next is a Tiffany-style window
painting the scene of Christ meeting the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
It was created by the John B. Alberts Studio of Louisville, the predecessor of Louisville
Art Glass. The artists' conception of light was stunning. The sun rises in the
east, just behind the Ascension window, and sets every evening behind the
purple mountains on the road to Emmaus. The large south window in the nave is
called "There is no night there" and was made by Mayer and Company of
Munich and New York. Of special interest is the scene with St. Cecilia, patron
saint of music. When the cross fell in 1998, the area above and beside this
window was badly damaged, but the window remained intact. The west wall window,
a larger, more ornate version of Christ with the children, also was made by
Mayer, and bears the title "Suffer the little children to come unto
me."
Let's go through the west door to
the narthex now, to see the four windows depicting Saints Matthew and Mark.
Saints Luke and John are in the room to the right, as you face west. These four
windows also were made by Mayer (alternate spelling is Meyer). Also, while we
are there, walk to the south tower. As you look out the door to the left, you
see the great (to us - it was a parking lot before!) lawn, and at the east end,
an addition built in 1994 which houses a reception room (Parker Hall), and
upstairs, the Choir Loft (Bingham Loft), clothes closets for the needy, and a
crib nursery. Two more projects were completed in 1996, the Burial Ground and a
small bathroom. Both had been talked about for years! A bronze plaque on the
south wall displays the names of the people who are buried in the Burial Ground
(the raised portion of lawn visible from the window).
Stepping back inside and
continuing the window tour, we see on the north wall the third of the three
large windows in the 1888 part of the church. This is the Pelican window,
representing Christ's sacrifice. The pelican feeds its young by pricking its
breast with its beak. The blood nourishes the young birds, just as Christ's
passion nourishes us. These three big windows are in basic Renaissance style,
possibly inspired by Sir Joshua Reynolds' window at Oxford. They combine scenes
and symbols like easel paintings transferred to glass, and contain both stained
glass and painted glass, with colors ranging from bold primaries to more subtle
ones. If you look way up above the big windows, you will see four triangles and
two round gems of color. When the afternoon sunlight filters through these
windows, there's a very special glow that permeates the area.
Moving to the north transcept, we
see a Calvary favorite, the angel with flaming hair, "Behold the lilies of
the field," a Tiffany imitation that almost outdoes the real thing! In the
middle of this transcept is the companion to the "Sehon Chapel"
window in the opposite transcept. It contains all sorts of symbols. Then comes
the "Charity" window by Tiffany, which is placed opposite its
counterpart in the south transcept. Finally, there is a rose window above the
library, possibly also from Sehon Chapel. All of these "Sehon"
windows show the mid-Victorian tradition of contrasting, unmixed colors, and
demonstrate the artful mixture of this bright style with the mingling of tones
in the milky-glass Tiffany windows, the bright, large Renaissance-style windows
in the back, and the soaring whiteness of the Ascension window above the
central cross at the altar. Again, a true blend of diversity, with great
artistic success.
If you look up again, you will
notice 12 flags symbolizing the 12 apostles, painted on satin and bordered in
gold fringe. They were designed and painted in 1958 by a former Rector of
Calvary, Kimball Underwood.
As you look to the west (back),
the order is as follows:
(click here to learn more about The Twelve)
MATTHEW - Tax Collector
SIMON - Fisher of Men
JAMES the LESS - Martyr
ANDREW - Crucified
THOMAS - Church Builder
PETER -Keys of the Kingdom
PHILIP - Feeding of 5000
JUDE - Missionary
JAMES the GREATER - Missionary
BARTHOLOMEW - Flayed alive
JOHN - Unharmed by snakebite
MATTHIAS - Beheaded