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Christ Church Cathedral

DESCRIPTION: Christ Church Cathedral embraces the goodness of God in all people, providing a welcoming, hospitable atmosphere with freedom for seeking, struggling and challenging. It is home to the oldest Episcopal congregation west of the Mississippi River and the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. The congregation was founded in 1819 and the current Cathedral opened in 1867. It is designed in 14th century English Gothic tradition and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark. The congregation invites visitors to share faith, community, and service in an inspiring holy space.

ADDRESS: 1210 Locust, St. Louis, MO 63103

LOCATION: Downtown

PHONE: 314-231-3454

WEB SITE: www.christchurchcathedral.us

GETTING THERE: From downtown, take Locust Street west to the corner of Locust and 13th Streets.

HOURS: The Cathedral is open for prayer and meditation 9 a.m.-5:00 p.m. daily. Sunday services are at 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Christian education is at 10:15 a.m. Childcare is available. Prayer services are held daily at 12:10 p.m. in the Cathedral’s chapel, except for Wednesdays, when there is a 7 a.m. Eucharist. First Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. is Taizé worship service. Art & Soul Café, on the first Friday evening of every month, explores spirituality through the arts. Self-guided tours of the Cathedral are available. Reservations are required for guided tours.

ADMISSION: Free

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • At Christ Church Cathedral, you’ll find a holy space that is constantly surprising in its combinations of beauty, tradition, exploration and good fun.
  • Christ Church Cathedral is modeled after a 14th century English Gothic church and is cruciform in design.
  • Inside the church, a 35-foot high altar and reredos dominates. The reredos comprises 52 completely carved religious figures, leading to the central figure of a crucified Christ. Each piece was sculpted from a cream-colored oolite stone mined outside Beer, England for the studios of Harry Hems in Exeter, England and shipped in 230 cases to St. Louis in 1911.
  • To commemorate the similarity of the Cathedral's reredos to the altar screens in St. Alban's Abbey Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral in England, stones from each structure have been set into the fabric of the building.
  • The font in the Cathedral's baptistery, located under the bell tower, was carved from marble in Pisa, Italy by Angiolo Brondi. The baptistery doors were given to the church by the Jewish congregation of Temple Israel to honor Bishop William Scarlett. They symbolize the ecumenism of Christ Church Cathedral: one door has Jewish symbols, the other Christian.
  • The Cathedral has several outstanding stained glass windows, including some original to the building. The Tiffany windows near the rear of the church were a gift to the church in 1917.
  • A movable pulpit given by Bishop William Scarlett in 1969, in memory of his wife Leah, is adorned with a wrought iron sculpture called the “Fabric of Human Involvement” and depicts the interconnectedness of humans.
  • The church's Cathedra, or Bishop's Throne, was dedicated in 1916 and is considered the most outstanding carved stone Cathedra in the country. The canopy is of stone to match the reredos and the lower portion is of white translucent Norwegian marble painted to match the stone.
  • The bells in the Cathedral's bell tower were cast by the same German foundry that cast the bells for the German Pavilion at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The largest bell weighs 5,732 pounds and is the largest bell in the state of Missouri.
  • The Mary E. Bofinger Chapel, given by a wealthy steamboat operator in memory of his wife, was built in 1894. The Chapel floor is a Columbarium, the church's only burial place. Each engraved floor tile covers a vault containing the cremated remains of the person named.
  • The Cathedral offers several programs including Christian education for adults and youth, choir for children and adults, family-friendly gatherings, inquirers classes, Bible study, gay and lesbian ministries.
  • For more than 150 years, the Cathedral's Shepley Program of Music and Art has presented concerts, organ recitals and artistic events for the St. Louis community.
  • Christ Church Cathedral has a historic commitment to social justice and service to our downtown neighbors. It is active with Habitat for Humanity and Congregations Allied for Community Improvement, a group of churches working to improve the quality of life in nearby neighborhoods. The Cathedral serves breakfast to the homeless Monday through Saturday mornings and provides referrals for social services.
  • Speakers at the Cathedral have included two Nobel Peace Prize laureates, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
  • In 2003, the Cathedral illuminated its exterior through a grant for sites on the National Historic Register.

ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN: The Cathedral offers Sunday school classes for children and activities for youth. It is also a satellite center for Girls Inc., an after-school and summer educational and recreational program.

ANNUAL SPECIAL EVENTS: Each Spring, Christ Church Cathedral hosts Flower Festival, a two-day event endowed by Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw. The festival features hundreds of flowers from the Garden complementing the medieval splendor of the Cathedral and highlighting an annual gust sermon on nature. The festival also includes a street fair with good food, good music and good fun. For more information, go to www.flowerfestival.us.

HISTORY: Upon its organization in in 1819, Christ Church became the first Episcopal congregation west of the Mississippi River. The church's first building opened in 1829 at the corner of Third and Chestnut Streets. That building was the first Episcopal church west of the Mississippi, and it held the first confirmation west of the Mississippi. In 1839, the church moved to a building at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets, where it remained until 1860. In 1859, the congregation commissioned the New York firm of Leopold Eidiltz to design its current building. Construction started in 1859 but halted during the Civil War, when services were held in the Mercantile Library Hall, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 17th and Olive Streets, and at Christ Church Chapel where the Bofinger Chapel now stands.

The design was in the 14th century English Gothic tradition. The layout is cruciform, the traditional cross-shape of cathedrals in Europe. The cornerstone was laid April 22, 1860, and the building was dedicated in 1890. The lighting fixtures with the symbols of the crown, mitre, fish and fleur-de-lis, were installed in 1939. The interior of the Cathedral was renovated in 1969 when the pews were removed and replaced with interlocking chairs.

The Cathedral's awe-inspiring reredos, an ornamental wall behind the altar, was a gift of Christine Blair Graham, after whom Washington University's Graham Chapel was named. The reredos was commissioned by the church in 1909 and carved in Exeter, England by sculptor Harry Hem. The 160-ton reredos was sculpted from a cream-colored stone obtained from quarries near Beer, England. It was then shipped from England in several pieces and reassembled on site by Hems and his staff in 1911.

GIFT SHOP: The Cathedral Bookstore sells books, music, cards, jewelry and gift items. It is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday and Sunday mornings.

WHERE TO GET LUNCH: There are many restaurants in the downtown area and St. Louis Union Station is nearby.

WHAT'S NEARBY: The St. Louis Public Library is across the street. The thriving Washington Avenue loft and entertainment district is one block away. Further east is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a National Park comprising the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse. These are adjacent to the Old Cathedral, Basilica of Saint Louis, built in 1834. To the west is St. Louis Union Station.

PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT:Margaret Mantia, executive assistant to the Cathedral's dean, at 314-231-3454 or mmantia@christchurchcathedral.us.

 

Readers should call 1-800-916-0040 to request a free copy of the Official St. Louis Visitor Guide or point, click and explore St. Louis at www.explorestlouis.com