815 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62704
Tel:  (217) 544-5135
Fax: (217) 544-6741
E-mail: stpaulepca@aol.com
www.stpaulspringfield.com

The Right Reverend Peter H. Beckwith, Bishop
The Very Rev. Robert E. Brodie - Dean
The Very Rev. Gus L. Franklin, III
The Rev. Gerald W. Raschke
The Rev. John D. Wilson

SUNDAY SERVICES

8:00 a.m.          Holy Eucharist (Rite I)
9:15 a.m.          Sunday School (Adult & Children)
10:30 a.m.        Holy Eucharist (Rite 2)
                      

Nursery care available from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m. for children up to age 3 years.

WEEKDAY SERVICES

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday:     12:15 p.m.        Holy Eucharist
Wednesday:                                        5:15 p.m.        Holy Eucharist

When the third St. Paul's Cathedral building was constructed on this site, the altar and reredos from the previous St. Paul's were installed. In July of 1918 William Ridgely, president of the Ridgely Farmer's Bank, died leaving a $20,000 bequest to St. Paul's to be invested and spent within 10 years "for betterments and improvements in ways that will enhance the beauty and secure the stability of St. Paul's." This legacy was expended for the Altar and Reredos ($8,200), a three manual organ, tiling in the Sanctuary, and a new communion rail.

The High Altar and Reredos were in place by the end of November 1920, with the tiling and railing in place in time for Christmas of that year. Fr. Haughton, rector, noted their installation as one of the high points of his tenth year as rector of the parish. The November 1920 Parish News contains the following article:

THE ALTAR AND REREDOS

"At this writing the new Altar and Reredos are near completion...

The Altar itself, together with the gradines, or shelves behind it, and the Tabernacle is built of Caen stone from quarries near Verdun in France. We are told it is the last remaining of pre-war shipments. Those who recall details of the World War will remember how those quarries were pounded by artillery during the long siege. The lines of the carving harmonize with the architecture of the church. In the center front the sacred monogram I. H. S. is carved in a setting of geometrical design while half way to each end are the significant Greek letters, Alpha and Omega. The whole group of letters tells us 'Jesus is the Alpha and Omega' or  'the author and finisher of our faith.' The Mensa or tablepiece, to cover the top, is of statuary marble and marked as usual with the five crosses for the five wounds in hands and feet and side.

The Tabernacle door is of solid burnished bronze with the figures of the chalice and host in low relief, because the Tabernacle is the place where the sacrament is kept reserved and ready for the sick and for the devotion of the faithful.

The reredos or structure behind and above the Altar, meant to dignify and ornament the Altar, is constructed in quarter-sawed white oak. Its lines are perpendicular gothic to harmonize with the building. It is furnished with carved wood statuary and symbolic pieces which teach the meaning of the Sacrament of the Altar as the means of the Real Presence of Christ among His people in the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist and the Communion of Christ's people with Himself in the Body and the Blood.

Thus the central group shows Christ reigning from the Cross, triumphant over death, represented as a King crowned and wearing the vestments of a priest. The carver has wrought it wonderfully and made it to express love, grace and majesty. On either side of this figure of our Lord are those who stood nearest His cross, His Blessed Mother and St. John, the beloved disciple. This whole central group is flanked with figures of adoring angles in three groups of two each.

Next, on the Epistle [north] side is the symbolic piece in high relief of Melchizedek, King of Salem, offering Abraham bread and wine. On the other, or Gospel side, is The Supper at Emmaus. In niches on the outer flanks are the figures of St. Peter and St. Paul and above them Moses and Elijah.

All this statuary and relief carving was done by Alois Lang, cousin of Anton Lang, of Passion Play fame, a communicant of the church, and in the employ of The American Seating Co., which had the contract for the whole work. The statues and relief carving have all been stained with sufficient acid stain to relieve the deadness of bare wood and bring out the beauty of form and drapery, giving the whole composition a fine warmth and glow which are most satisfying to the eye and are an inspiration to devotion."

In the 1970's the altar was brought forward and made freestanding, in keeping with the liturgical changes sweeping the churches of the time. The steps to the High Altar have been carpeted. Otherwise the Altar remains as it was when it and the reredos were installed.

 ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL THROUGH THE YEARS

In 1832, the Rev. John Batchelder of Trinity Church in Jacksonville, Illinois began holding occasional services in Springfield for a handful of Episcopalians.  By June of 1835, Philander Chase, newly elected Bishop of Illinois, heard that this small group desired to organize a parish and secure the services of clergy.  On June 19, 1835, nineteen persons organized themselves as the “Parish of St. Paul’s, Springfield.”  Bishop Chase gave them his apostolic blessing, leaving his nephew, the Rev. Samuel Chase in charge of the new congregation.

Services initially were held in Presbyterian, Methodist and Christian houses of worship as the small congregation began to grow.  In the summer of 1838, work began on the first St. Paul’s, situated on Washington Street between Third and Fourth Streets.  The Rev. Charles Dresser, the first Rector, lived in a one-story frame house on Eighth Street, later purchased by Abraham Lincoln.  It was Dr. Dresser who performed the Lincoln-Todd marriage.  The parochial register, noting the marriage, survives to this day.

By 1846 the congregation had grown to a point where a larger building was necessary.  The new edifice, built at Fourth and Adams, was consecrated by Bishop Chase on June 24, 1848, and served as the church home until 1912.  The congregation expanded rapidly in the following years.  Sunday Schools were begun, and a rectory was built adjacent to the church in the late 1880’s.

It was during these years that the theological and liturgical renewal of the Anglo-Catholic movement began sweeping through much of the Episcopal Church.  St. Paul’s quickly became a leader in furthering the movement, placing strong emphasis on regular celebration of the Holy Eucharist, use of liturgical vestments, processional crosses and altar candles.   These attempts to reclaim the earlier traditions of the Christian faith caused considerable dissension within the congregation, ultimately leading to the founding of Christ Church, Springfield by a number of St. Paul’s parishioners who were disenchanted with the changes going on about them.

Despite this dissension, St. Paul’s continued to thrive and to solidify its position as a major stronghold of Anglo-Catholic doctrine and practice in the American church.  By the beginning of the twentieth century, it was clear that the congregation was once again outgrowing its worship space and the physical condition of the building made it not worth saving.  In 1910 it was decided to once again seek a new location.  Property at the corner of Second and Lawrence was purchased for $10,000 and construction begun.  On May 13, 1913, the third St. Paul’s was consecrated by the Right Reverend Edward Osborne, second Bishop of Springfield.

The church was built in the English perpendicular gothic style, after plans approved by Ralph Adams Cram.  The interior is noteworthy for its beautiful use of wood and its extensive stained glass windows, installed in a seventy-year period between 1912 and 1982.  The windows are entirely in the medieval gothic style, using imported glass, executed by the Willet Studios of Philadelphia.

The carved reredos is the single most distinctive work of art in the sanctuary.  It was carved and installed in 1920 by Alois Lang, a German woodcarver.  Richly detailed with extensive Christian symbolism, the reredos is crowned by a Christus Rex, surrounded by statues of significant Biblical figures.  The High Altar is built of Caen stone from quarries in France with a marble tablepiece.  The altar was moved out from its original location to its current freestanding position in the 1970’s.

Although St. Paul’s had been referred to as the pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Springfield for many years, it was not officially designated as the Cathedral until 1948.  A major refurbishing of the interior of the structure in 1990 resulted in newly carved wood canopies over the sedelia and the Bishop’s throne.  These are the work of master craftsman Gordon Benson, a communicant of St. Paul’s.  Additional work to make the church building and the communion rail handicapped accessible was carried out in 1995.

Between 1999 and 2002 the Cathedral completed two major expansion and renovation projects that provided additional classroom and office space, a new atrium entrance area and a social space known as the Café, plus elevator access to all floors of the buildings.  Extensive building remodeling, including new roofs, tuck-pointing and a modern heating plant were also completed at this time.  As St. Paul’s moves into the twenty-first century, the congregation continues to thrive and grow as it ministers to the entire city from its location at the center of downtown Springfield.

CLERGY WHO HAVE BEEN IN CHARGE OF THE CATHEDRAL

The Very Reverend Robert E. Brodie
Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul
Springfield, Illinois  (2006 - Present)

 INCUMBENT

PAST AND PRESENT
DEANS AND RECTORS OF THE CATHEDRAL