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Trinity History

Nave, 1893

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The Nave The Nave is the term applied to the interior of the church, the full area where the congregation sits. It is separated at the front steps by an area called the Chancel, where the priests, organist, and choir members sit during the service. The area immediately around the altar is called the Sanctuary, which is divided by the communion rail. This area is typically reserved for the priests, acolytes, and chalice bearers.

The nave of Trinity has undergone a number of decorations and color schemes since the church was completed in 1866. The original design is unknown. Undoubtedly the rafters were varnished in dark wood tones, and there were three stained glass windows on the sanctuary wall near and behind the altar that were later blocked off. Initially, there was no altar - only a wooden table known as the Holy Table, which was probably placed in the sanctuary area. The original pulpit design is also unknown but may have been constructed of wood. The baptismal font may date from this early period, but the brass angel on top was a later addition. The marble altar made its appearance in 1874 as a gift from Lavina (Ewing) Bond in memory of her late husband, Charles Douglass Bond. It contained five carved crosses, symbolizing the five wounds of Christ. Considered Anglo-Catholic, it was controversial in its day and reflected the growing appreciation for Anglo-Catholic theology by the rector at the time, the Rev. Colin Campbell Tate.

Between 1892 and 1893, the nave underwent a major redecoration during the rectorate of the Rev. Alexander W. Seabrease. The J. and R. Lamb Company of New York, a major supplier of church fixtures, was hired to redesign the inside, and company artists painted numerous stencils were throughout. An Alpha-Omega symbol appeared at the top of the central arch. William Rockhill Nelson, the famed editor of the Kansas City Star newspaper, donated an ornate brass pulpit in honor of his parents in 1893. A reredos was installed for the first time in this same period commemorating the service of the Rev. Joseph S. Large and given by his children. It featured a painting of Christ as the Good Shepherd set within a gilded frame.

In 1924-25, the church underwent the most significant redecoration in its history. The vestry and the rector, the Rev. Louis N. Rocca, hired the architectural firm of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue of New York to design the church as a fifteenth century English oratory. All of the rafters were painted white, and the walls were painted in rich hues of red, blue, and gold. Large, intricately-painted crosses, were painted on the chancel ceiling, and all of the brass fixtures were "antiqued" with applique. The reredos was replaced with a new painting by Charles Telford Paullin of New York, featuring the risen Christ surrounded by angels in a Byzantine design.

A rood screen and rood cross were added in the 1920s, both of which changed dramatically the chancel's appearance. Some parishioners liked the new style while others found it overwhelming and not in keeping with the overall church design. During the 1940s and 1950s, the nave was repainted various times, toning down the Goodhue designs but still keeping the nave colorful.

In 1962, the nave was repainted again when a new reredos was installed, this one designed by Leslie Nobbs of New York City. The half dome of the chancel ceiling was painted blue, and the rafters were still painted.

During the 1970s and 1980s, two major efforts were undertaken to restore the church and repair the roof, which had begin to sag. Workmen discovered that the roof had never been properly anchored to the walls and could have collapsed at any time. During this period the rafters were stripped of paint and restored to a natural wood look. Those in the main ceiling are constructed of pine. The applique was stripped from the brass and the walls painted in more neutral colors to accentuate the stained glass windows.
Reredos and Fixtures

The Church Furnishings

   As you enter the church, let us begin with the Nave, the word used to describe the entire worship space of the main church. Here you will see rows of pews divided by a main aisle, a Chancel at the top of the steps where the choir sings, and a Sanctuary, the area around the main altar, where the priests stand. The walls are painted in an off-white with much gilded stenciling throughout.
    Trinity’s interior has undergone many different decorative designs since its inception, but its original appearance is unknown. In 1893, under the direction of the J. and R. Lamb Studio of New York, the interior walls were repainted and gilded with heavy stenciling. A photograph reveals that an Alpha-Omega symbol was painted at the top of the main arch. In 1924, a rood screen was added as a gift from a vestryman, James Haberly, as a memorial to Frances Haberly. That same year, under the direction of the architectural firm of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Associates, the Rev. Louis Rocca, together with the vestry, authorized that the nave be redecorated in deep reds, blues, and gold. Nearly all of the woodwork was painted, including the rafters, and it was such a jarring change that many disliked it.

     The repainting of the walls, roof, and apse in 1965 in accordance with the recommendations of Leslie H. Nobbs of New York City resulted in an environment of worship that was still colorful, though the rood screen had been removed by this date. In 1985, under the Rev. C. Corydon Randall, the nave underwent another extensive renovation and re-painting, this time in a simple, off-white color, highlighted with gold stenciling, with the intention that its color scheme not clash with the vibrant color of its windows. Thus, in its present appearance, the color of the church interior likely approximates closely what it must have resembled more than a century and a half ago, the redecorations having eliminated considerable appliqué ornament acquired over the years.
    New pews, choir stalls, chancel rail, and choir prie-dieux were installed in 1959 and memorialize Edward and Lilla Dodez by their children. Additional oak paneling in the chancel was added in 1985 and greatly unifies the woodwork throughout the church. The large hanging rood cross above the chancel steps, originally in Passiontide red but now white, was the gift of Arthur Fletcher Hall in 1927 in thanksgiving for his daughter Aileen, wife of Frederick B. Shoaff.

    The furnishings of the church are called “fixtures.” Some fixtures are used as part of the regular Sunday morning services, while others are brought out only on special occasions. On the Epistle (right) side of the choir near the sacristy door may be seen one of two processional crosses. This smaller, more ornate cross is budded with emblems of the Four Evangelists at the ends of the arms, and with the sacred monogram IHS in the center. Donated in 1958, it memorializes Alexander Franklin Peddie, who died in 1952 and was for many years a member of the vestry. The other, larger processional cross, also of brass, located on the Gospel side of the nave behind the organ, was donated in the early 1900s by Clara (Hanna) Carnahan as a memorial to her family. On Sunday mornings, the larger cross leads the procession while the smaller cross, when used, separates the choir from the clergy and lay readers in the procession.
    The brass torches or service lights used at worship were given as a memorial to Gladys F. McGahey. In holders on the Epistle (right) side are the national colors and the flag of the Episcopal Church. The pavement of the choir in white tile was given in memory of Olive M. Falls by her parents, Daniel and Margaret Falls, in June 1915. According to a local newspaper of the time, the floor had terra cotta effects and was bordered with “a flowing vine which corresponds with the decorations in the choir loft.”

     The placement of certain fixtures in the chancel are opposite how they are normally arranged in most traditional churches. Below the chancel steps on the Gospel (left) side of the crossing is the lectern, the desk at which the scripture lessons of the offices are read. In many churches, this desk is found on right or Epistle side of the chancel. In the familiar form of an eagle, the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, the lectern consists of carved oak and was given at Easter 1882 in memory of Orange Allen Angell (died 1864) and Elizabeth Seely Angell by their son, Byron D. Angell. It was made by the Lamb Studios of New York City and cost $150 at that time.

     To the right of the lectern is the baptismal font of carved white marble. In relief on its front are the letters “I.H.S.,” a contraction of the Greek word for Jesus that was later expanded in Latin to signify Iesus Hominum Salvator, or “Jesus Savior of Men.” The letters are surmounted by a cross, signifying that through baptism, we are marked as Christ’s own forever. The font was originally located close to the east windows in the area known as the baptistery, but it was moved in the 1970s when the new Book of Common Prayer mandated the public celebration of baptisms during Sunday morning services rather than in private. In its current placement the congregation has a clearer view of the ceremony and can better welcome the newly-baptized.
    The font is topped by a cap surmounted by an angel of cast brass, who bears a scroll with the Latin word Renatur, meaning “He is restored.” The angel is considered one of the finest artistic works in the church. Charles Graves, a vestryman at the time, gave the font cover in memory of Ursula Graves Goetz, his daughter, who had died in 1892. The font itself is possibly older and may date to 1866, but no information about its origin has been preserved. The large brass ewer nearby was given at the same time by Minnie Graves Brown in memory of her sister, Ursula Graves Goetz. The priest pours water from the ewer into the basin of the font during the baptismal service.
     The large wooden candle holder to the right of the lectern memorializes the Rev. J. McNeal Wheatley (1896-1969), thirteenth rector of the parish. It holds the Paschal Candle, which is lit during the Easter Vigil service and throughout the Easter season, representing Christ as the Light of the World.

     On the opposite side of the aisle stands the wood, brass, and marble pulpit, its rich flamboyance contrasting with the quiet restraint of the other church furniture. Its placement here is also unusual, since in most other traditional churches pulpits are located on the left or Gospel side of the chancel. William Rockhill Nelson, famed editor of the Kansas City Star and friend of Theodore Roosevelt, donated this pulpit in 1893 in honor of his parents, Isaac DeGroff Nelson (1810-1891) and Elizabeth (Rockhill) Nelson (1817-1889), long-time members of the parish. The substantial platform or base consists of fine Griotte marble. The brass reading desk in the pulpit, a memorial to Leonora H. Drake (who died 1891) and Elizabeth A. Woodruff (who died 1892), is supported by a wooden rail, beneath which are seven panels. The front panel is a mosaic of an angelic figure holding a scroll or plaque with the words, “He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous.” (I John 3:7). The side panels feature the grapes and wheat of the Eucharist in brass high relief. The remaining four panels contain large round medallions bearing the figures of the four Evangelists with their symbols. From left to right they are:

St. Matthew with the winged man, because the writer begins his Gospel by tracing the human descent of our Lord;

St. Mark with the winged lion, because this Evangelist opens his account by describing St. John Baptist, who was the voice crying in the wilderness;

St. Luke appears with the winged ox, because he gives a vary full account of the sacrificial death of Christ; and

St. John is portrayed with the eagle, because from first to last, his Gospel soars on eagle wings of inspiration to the throne of Heaven.

     Above and behind the pulpit, affixed to the wall of the organ-chamber, is an Oberammergau crucifix, carved in Bavaria, Germany, which proclaims that here is preached “the faith of Christ crucified.” It was given by Clara Carnahan as a memorial to her family, probably in the 1930s.

The Prayer Shrine

    On the far left side of the front of the church, left of the baptistery, is the prayer shrine, where parishioners may light candles in memory of the departed. Several features are worthy of note. Originating in the studios of the Benedictine fathers at Three Rivers, Michigan, is the double prie-dieu, made of oak with wrought iron supports. The kneeler is covered in damask and memorializes Jerry and Mary McCarthy and Charlie and Minnie Van Horn. The cruciform stand of vigil lights is a thank-offering by Dr. Richard T. Moore. Two additional stands of lights are memorials of the Bedree family. To this shrine, which so wonderfully proclaims the basic truths of the faith - that Christ suffered, died rose, and ever lives to make intercession for us - the individual child of God may come at any time, say prayers, light a candle, and depart in peace. The small bust of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus on a shelf near the window is modeled after a more famous design. It was given in 1979 by Gladys McPherson as a memorial to Neil McPherson. The bust of Mary on the baptistery wall is a reproduction from Michelangelo’s famed Pietà and was given by Nike Spillson in honor of her mother, Jayne. The three-stepped brass Calvary cross on the shelf behind the votive candles was given in 1935 by Georgiana (Bond) Asbury in memory of her mother, Grace (Gorham) Bond (1869-1912).

The High Altar

    The High Altar, located behind the free-standing altar, dates from June 1, 1874, and is constructed of white, variegated red-brown, and black (noir antique) marble. Lavina (Ewing) Bond presented it in memory of her husband, Charles Douglass Bond (1831-1873), long-time parish treasurer, and stipulated that it be “unostentatious, at the same time rich, elegant, and altogether churchly.” S. Klaber & Company, which had built the altar for the Church of the Incarnation in New York City, executed this superb piece of church craftsmanship at a cost of $2,000 in 1874 dollars. Mrs. Bond presented it at the urging of the Rev. Colin Campbell Tate, Trinity’s seventh rector, and it proved controversial in its day, when many parishes wrestled with the question of whether marble altars were too Anglo-Catholic for the Episcopal Church.
    Incised upon the mensa (table) are five crosses, one in the center and one at each corner, symbolizing the five wounds of Our Lord. Four Gothic columns support the table, and the front consists of three black-bordered square panels. The center panel carries a Greek flowered cross, each of its arms terminating in three petals to suggest the Holy Trinity. The left panel bears the sacred monogram IHS (an abbreviation of the Greek word IHΣOYΣ meaning “Jesus”), and the right panel carries a variation of the Chi Rho (XP) “Christ.” These three forms often occur together in early Christian burial inscriptions and in the panels of the High Altar find a most appropriate location, liturgically speaking.
     The white marble gradine (shelf above the table) is a later gift by Georgiana (Bond) Asbury in memory of her father, Stephen Darrow Bond, presented in 1936, while the tabernacle (the cupboard-like repository for the reserved Sacrament) is a memorial for W. Clyde Quimby and Lillie May Kinkade, given the same year. It replaced an earlier wooden tabernacle.
     In front of the old altar is a more recent altar or Holy Table, fabricated of oak and donated to the parish in 1989. It reflects the influence of Vatican II within the Episcopal Church, which brought many altars out into the chancel, allowing priests to celebrate Holy Communion while facing the congregation. Constructed by parishioner Philip McClure, it rests on a wooden platform and was designed to fit carefully over the marble steps so as not to disturb the memorials below it. A church bulletin at the time explained the theology behind the move. “This arrangement, when priest and people are gathered around the altar and together celebrating the Mass, is a revival of the earliest of Christian practices. It visually implies that our Lord is in the midst of the gathered Church (rather than somewhere beyond the east end of our building), and it is most appropriate to the doctrine of the real presence of Christ and of our Lord's promise to be in our midst whenever we come together for the Holy Eucharist.”
    The altar rail is of unknown date but was certainly in place before 1893, when it appears in the earliest photograph of the nave. The rail gate and posts were added in 1951 by Ada Daup in memory of her husband, the Rev. William Wesley Daup (1880-1940), Trinity’s first curate.

The Reredos

     Standing behind the marble altar is the reredos. The first reredos in Trinity’s sanctuary was donated in 1891 by the children of the Rev. Joseph S. Large (1811-1890), long-time rector of the parish, as a memorial to him. A hexagonal structure with a gilded wood frame, it contained a portrait of Christ as the Good Shepherd by an unknown artist. During the rectorate of the Rev. Louis Rocca in 1924, the picture was removed and replaced by a painting that depicted Christ in a medieval pose, surrounded by an elliptical border, being attended by several saints and angels. Painted by Mr. and Mrs. Telford Paullin of New York City, it was executed under the direction of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, Architects, of New York and presented by the vestry to the church as a memorial to Joseph Slater, for several years Senior Warden. The painting and a portion of the original reredos are now on display in the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society Museum.

     The present reredos of the High Altar, consecrated at a festival evensong on the First Sunday in Advent, December 2, 1962, was designed by and executed in the studios of Leslie H. Nobbs, New York, one of the outstanding ecclesiologists of his time. Carved in solid oak, its handsome lines harmonize admirably with the Gothic architecture of our century-old church. The height of the reredos extends out over the altar in a tester (or canopy) with a cross-topped gilded dome in the center. The ceiling of the canopy is in Lady Blue, its facing exquisitely carved with delicate tracery and slender finials. Carved into the tester are the thistle of Scotland and the Tudor rose of England, testifying to the historical continuity of the American Episcopal Church with the Scottish Church and the Church of England in the consecration of our first bishops in the apostolic succession. Following the Revolutionary War, the leaders of the newly-formed Episcopal Church found themselves in a quandary of how to consecrate new bishops. A requirement for such consecrations in England required a loyalty oath to the king. The Scottish Church required no such oath, so the Rev. Samuel Seabury, the first bishop of the Episcopal Church, was consecrated in Scotland. The English Church later amended its canons to not require an oath of loyalty.
     Dramatically superimposed upon the red center panel of the reredos is a majestic Christus Rex crucifix, with the Savior’s hands and feet nailed to the Cross to indicate that what took place on Calvary in time was an eternal event for us and for our salvation. Our Lord is robed in Eucharistic vestments as the Great High Priest, who reigns forever in Heaven at the right hand of the Father. Hovering high and mystically over the center panel is the white dove with nimbus, the symbol of God the Holy Ghost, from which emanate seven rays symbolizing the seven-fold gifts of the Spirit conferred in Confirmation: grace, wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and true godliness.
     On either side of the dove, we see four polychrome heraldic shields, bearing the coat-of-arms of Trinity Parish (the familiar chalice with the triquetra, symbolizing trinity in unity, as originally designed by George Alatza of the parish); the Province of Canterbury (the “Y” being the pallium originally granted to an archbishop to invest him with authority); the American Episcopal Church (bearing the red cross of St. George, the patron saint of England, with nine cross-crosslets in the upper left blue field to indicate the first nine American dioceses); and the Diocese of Northern Indiana (the lighthouse reminding us of Lake Michigan and symbolizing Christ shining as a beacon to the world).
     On either side of the Crucifix are two figures who stood at the foot of the Cross, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Beloved Disciple, both shown in their traditional colors. To the left of the Blessed Mother stands St. Gregory the Great, who sent St. Augustine and the Roman mission to Britain in the year 597 C.E.; he wears the miter of primitive style and the red glove and slippers sometimes used by a bishop. In his left hand is a walking-stick to remind us of his days as a wandering monk, and on his right shoulder is a bird to symbolize the church music which carries his name - plainsong or Gregorian chant. In the upper niche on the left (or Gospel) side is the figure of Samuel Seabury, the first bishop of the American Church (previously discussed), vested in the black gown and bands of his day, and carrying his black-and-gold mitre, which is still preserved at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. Below him is the figure of St. Alban, the first or proto-martyr (304 C.E.) of the Anglican Communion, in whose honor Trinity’s first mission chapel (and now parish) is named. Alban, a pagan Roman soldier, gave refuge to a Christian priest, who converted him to the Faith and baptized him. When the priest was in danger of arrest, St. Alban substituted himself, so we see him here clothed in a priest’s chasuble but bearing in his hands a sword and helmet indicative of his military vocation.
     On the Epistle (right) side and next to St. John the Evangelist is St. John Chrysostom, vested in robes and crown-like miter of an Eastern Orthodox prelate. He holds the Bible, symbolic of his prowess as a preacher and orator, for which he earned the nickname Chrysostom, the Greek word for “Golden Mouth.” Above and to his right stands St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, vested in cope and miter and carrying his Office Book, his hand upraised in blessing. Below him is seen St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian Church, wearing a dalmatic, the vestment of a deacon, and holding the stones symbolic of his martyrdom. All of the figures, considered together, symbolize the Episcopal Church as the descendant of the ancient Catholic Church of England, underscoring the validity and sacredness of its Holy Orders.
     Capping the tabernacle (the repository for the reserved Sacrament) is a crown of gold, which in its turn is topped with a bursting pomegranate, an ancient symbol of the Resurrection. The cap has a long history of controversy in the parish. The Rev. George Wood kept the cap at the time of its installation in 1965, but his successor, the Rev C. Corydon Randall, disliked it and had it placed with a note in the loft of the steeple. His successor, the Rev. Frank H. Moss III, also disliked it and kept it there. It was restored to the tabernacle at Easter 2001 by the Rev. Rebecca Ferrell Nickel. At the bottom of the reredos, a frieze runs below the central and dominating figure of Christ the King and contains a carving of a grapevine. As the familiar symbol of the Eucharist, it causes us to recall Our Lord’s words, “I am the vine, and ye are the branches.”
     The wealth of beauty and liturgical perfection enshrined in the reredos was given to the parish in memory of Dudley Stockton McClure (1892-1961), who was for nineteen years Head Usher and Chairman of the Ushers’ Club. A bachelor, McClure left the bulk of his estate to his sister, Isabelle McClure Peltier (1880-1961). She died the day of his funeral, and in her will she left a sizable bequest to Trinity, which increased Dudley’s donation.