It was the first Episcopal Cathedral church in the United States to be built expressly as such, rather than a local parish being chosen to serve as the church of a bishop, and for that reason, it is also called the Pioneer Cathedral. The church was unable to complete the cathedral and the large planned complex in the early 20th century. Because the commissioner of the State Education Department had his headquarters built on the remainder of the block, the remainder of the cathedral will never be completed. Some foundations for planned expansions remain, however, for instance, for spires.
Building
The cathedral is located on the south corner of the intersection of Elk and South Swan Streets. The terrain slopes gently toward the Hudson River a half-mile (1km) to the east, and sharply into Sheridan Hollow and Arbor Hill to the immediate north. The cathedral's 2-acre (8,100m2)lot is in the northern corner of the Lafayette Park Historic District, at the edge of central Albany's developed area.[1]
The cathedral was designed in the shape of a modified Greek cross with short transepts and squared ends. It is largely finished in split-cut Potsdam sandstone, with decorative trim in brownstone.[2] The east end has the greatest level of finish. A parking lot is in the southwest corner. At the southeast corner, in the space between the cathedral and the SED building, is a brick chapter house.[1]
Inside, the cathedral interior is finished in the same East Longmeadow brownstone as the outside trim. The nave is laid out with two narrow side aisles, separated from the main section by large sets of engaged stone columns as much as 7 feet (2.1m) wide. Six large stained glass windows provide light, supplemented by sunlight through the clear conventional glass in the clerestory windows.[1] Its interior is graced by stone and wood carvings and by striking stained glass windows designed by Clayton and Bell of London, LaFarge, and other notable stained glass designers.
The wooden floor of the nave gives way to mosaic in the choir, sanctuary and two side chapels. Underneath it is supported by steel beams and brick arches. An intricately decorated iron and brass rood screen on a stone base sets the choir apart from the nave. Some of the clergy stalls in the rear have elaborate carvings. Behind them is a polychrome reredos, its niches filled with sculptures.[1]
History
Bishop William Croswell Doane, the first to head the new Diocese of Albany, began there in 1869. His major project, for many years, was raising funds and managing the building of the Cathedral of All Saints, his major legacy.[3] Up to that point, no Episcopal diocese in the U.S. had built a true cathedral. Most had simply used the largest existing church in the diocese.
In Albany, Doane planned a cathedral like those in England, that served not only as the central church of the diocese but anchored a complex to include a convent, cloister, hospital and school. In 1870 he established a girls' school, and then incorporated the cathedral three years later, holding services in a former machine shop. A sisterhood and hospital were formally established in 1874.[4]Erastus Corning donated the land.[3]
With the land secured, Doane announced that a competition would be held for the design. It took until 1882 for the bishop to announce the winner: Robert W. Gibson. The then-unknown architect's design edged out a widely publicized design by the well-known Henry Hobson Richardson, who had already distinguished himself in Albany with his designs for the early stages of the state capitol and city hall.[4] Richardson had worked hard on his design and was reportedly very disappointed that it was not chosen. However, he had apparently ignored most of Doane's requirements.[1] Despite this, some architectural historians have mistakenly assumed the cathedral is his work.[5]
Gibson's design was what Doane had wanted. A 29-year-old who had recently immigrated to the US from his native England, Gibson was aware of the Oxford Movement and its influence on Episcopal Church design. He had designed a building in the English Gothic mode so idealized by the Oxfordians, using stone for what the bishop called "instant antiquity," even as architects on other projects were experimenting with steel and brick. With Doane's guidance, Gibson modified his design for Albany's harsher winters by narrowing the windows.[4]
Doane wanted the building to be functionally ready in all ways when opened, unlike the European models Gibson had followed, which were built and opened in stages. The side walls were built to 40 feet (12m) and a temporary clerestory created in a roof that used the triforium for support. Louis Hinton, another English immigrant, did the interior stonecarving, which was not finished until 1891. John LaFarge designed the large rose window in the west wall, and the London firm of Clayton and Bell the wall windows.[2] The carved choir stalls were salvaged from a demolished 17th-century church in Bruges, Belgium.[1]
The Cathedral of All Saints was dedicated in 1888.[6] The church and the diocese kept using the main building as it was completed. In the early years of the 20th century, the chapter house was completed. By 1909 the ceiling was complete to its intended level, and the permanent clerestory was unveiled. Much of the building was paid for with a gift from Doane's friend, J. Pierpont Morgan.[3]
By that time, it had become clear that Doane's original plans for a mother-church complex would never come to pass. He had been able to buy some of the other lots on the block, but not all of them. While he was on a trip to Europe in 1906, Andrew S. Draper, the state's first Commissioner of Education, bought the other lots on the block fronting along Washington Avenue. He planned to have a headquarters built for his department, regardless of Doane's vision for his complex.[7]
Doane had no choice but to sell the state his lots. He successfully lobbied the state to limit the number of stories the new building would have, but made an enemy of Draper in the process. The commissioner made sure that the height of each story was as great as he could get away with. When finished in 1913, the state building hid the cathedral from the sight of most of the rest of the city. Doane and Draper both died shortly thereafter.[7]
The cathedral is permanently incomplete. Two foundations for the 210-foot (64m) eastern spires which Gibson had planned remain on its eastern end.[1] There has been no attempt to build those spires, and most work on the cathedral since the early 20th century has been largely maintenance, save for the occasional memorial stained glass window.[7]
In 1948 the standing-seam metal on the original roof was replaced with asphalt shingles. During the next decade, the most significant renovation work took place. The original wood in the nave floor was replaced with reinforced concrete, and the heating system was upgraded. A kitchen, multi-purpose room and Sunday school classroom were built in the undercroft.[7]
The facade on the west entrance, of Potsdam sandstone with Indiana limestone trim, was built in 1971. The roof shingles were replaced again thirty years later as part of a renovation project. There have been no other changes to the building.[7]
William Croswell Doane founded the cathedral, and was its first chief clergyman.[3] There followed a number of notable bishops and deans of the cathedral, including some who became national figures.
The dean emeritus of the cathedral is The Very Rev. Marshall Vang, who served for a decade as its pastor.
William Love, a former Episcopal bishop of Albany, served at the Cathedral of All Saints as a Dean's Vicar in the 1980s, and from 2007 to 2021, as its Bishop.[8] The retired bishop The Right Rev. David Standish Ball continued to serve until his death in April 2017.[9]
Architecture
The construction for the cathedral began in 1888,[6] and it remains unfinished, although its slate roof was recently replaced.[10] The altar of the old Saint Alban's chapel in the cathedral was moved to St. Paul's church in the village of Salem, New York.[11]
The cathedral is noted as a tourist destination for its Gothic architecture, and especially for its multi-colored stained glass windows, stone carvings, and 17th-century Belgian Choir stalls.[12] It is richly furnished.[13]Frank Leslie's Weekly issued a whole booklet on the cathedral for tourists of the late 19th century.[14] In 2008, the Ship of Fools website gave the cathedral a rating of "10" f(its highest) for its architecture, preaching, and Anglo-Catholic worship services.[15]
In the late 19th century, Bishop Doane created a boy's choir school (now defunct) and the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys.[18] Doane penned "Ancient of Days", which has become a well-known Anglican hymn, also known by its tune, Albany, while at the Cathedral of All Saints.[19] The Choir sings in a wide variety of languages, including Greek (the Kyrie), "English, Latin, German, French, Italian, and Russian."[16]
The Boys Choir at the Cathedral of All Saints sings compline periodically,[20] usually the first Friday of each month, which is timed to coordinate with other activities downtown.[21] They also sing the service of Nine Lessons and Carols every Advent season.
The cathedral is also a concert venue for both secular and religious music.[16][22] This is due in no small part to its architecture, and has been cited as one of the "Great Acoustic Spaces for Choral Music (in the) U.S. and Canada."[23] The cathedral's pipe organ is a 1956 Aeolian-Skinner model designed by G. Donald Harrison, subsequently modified by Austin Organs.[24]
Other programs
One of the practices revived in the Cathedral since Bishop Doane's time, has been the election and crowning of a boy bishop in conjunction with its Medieval Faire, an event which is presently on hiatus. It was a widespread practice in Europe and especially in England for nearly 300 years prior to the Reformation, associated with festivals related to St. Nicholas.[25][26]
The synod of Province II took place May 7–8, 2009 in Albany, New York, near the cathedral, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.[27] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori celebrated eucharist at the Cathedral of All Saints when she visited the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in 2011.[28]
Notable Cathedralites
Amongst the notable congregants, or "Cathedralites", besides its bishops, have been:
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The structure is of Neo-Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century. It is the second-largest church building in the United States, and the third-tallest building in Washington, D.C. The cathedral is the seat of both the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Bruce Curry, and the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde. Over 270,000 people visit the structure annually.
Saint Thomas Church is an Episcopal parish church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Also known as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue or Saint Thomas Church in the City of New York, the parish was incorporated on January 9, 1824. The current structure, the congregation's fourth church, was designed by the architects Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the French High Gothic Revival style and completed in 1914. In 2021, it reported 2,852 members, average in-person attendance of 224 and $1,152,588 in plate and pledge income.
George Washington Doane was an American churchman, educator, and the second bishop in the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of New Jersey.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly known as St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the West End of Edinburgh, Scotland; part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
William Croswell Doane was the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States. He was bishop from 1869 until his death in 1913.
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, located in Charleston, South Carolina. Designed by Brooklyn architect Patrick Keely in the Gothic Revival style, it opened in 1907. The Most Reverend Jacques E. Fabre, the fourteenth Bishop of Charleston, was ordained and installed on May 13, 2022
The Episcopal Diocese of Albany is a diocese of the Episcopal Church covering 19 counties in northeastern New York state. It was created in 1868 from a division of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
David Standish Ball was the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States from 1984 to 1998.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, also known as St. Peter's Church, is located in downtown Albany, New York, United States. It was designed in the mid-19th century by Richard Upjohn and his son Richard M. Upjohn in the French Gothic Revival architectural style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and designated a National Historic Landmark eight years later. It is also a contributing property to the Downtown Albany Historic District.
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton. It is located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Construction of the cathedral began in 1845 and it was consecrated in 1853. The Gothic Revival cathedral is modelled after St. Mary's Church, Snettisham, Norfolk.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic church near the Mansion District in Albany, New York, United States. Built in the period of the 1848-1852, it is the mother church of the Diocese of Albany. In 1976 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral for the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis. Christ Church parish was formally organized in 1837. The present-day church building was erected in 1857 on Monument Circle at the center of downtown Indianapolis to replace the parish's first church built on the same site. Designed by architect William Tinsley, the English Gothic Revival-style structure is the oldest church building in Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, that has remained in continuous use. It is also the oldest building on Monument Circle. Christ Church is known for its music, especially its pipe organs, one of which was donated by Ruth Lilly, and its professional Choir of Men and Boys and Girls' Choir. The parish is also known for its community service, including an annual strawberry festival fundraiser and other charitable work. Christ Church Cathedral was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1973. It is located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District.
Wilbur Emory Hogg Jr was the sixth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States from 1974 until 1984.
Richard Henry Nelson was the second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States from 1913 to 1929, as well as being coadjutor from 1904 to 1913 under the first bishop, William Croswell Doane.
The Lafayette Park Historic District is located in central Albany, New York, United States. It includes the park and the combination of large government buildings and small rowhouses on the neighboring streets. In 1978 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Many of its contributing properties are themselves listed on the National Register. One of them, the New York State Capitol, is a National Historic Landmark as well. Other government buildings include City Hall, the building housing Albany County government, the state's highest court and the offices of its Education Department along with the offices of the City School District of Albany. The Episcopal Diocese of Albany's cathedral is at one corner of the district.
Robert W. Gibson, AIA, was an English-born American ecclesiastical architect active in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century New York state. He designed several large Manhattan churches and a number of prominent residences and institutional buildings.
The Episcopal Church of All Saints serves the Old Northside Historic District near downtown Indianapolis. It is distinctive within the diocese for its Anglo-Catholic style of worship, and is historically significant as the first Episcopal Church in the United States to regularly ordain a woman as priest. The building also served as the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis from 1911 until 1954, when the bishop's seat was relocated to Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis.
St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, is located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church is located at North Main and Madison avenues in Albany, New York, United States. It is a complex of three buildings, centered on the church itself, a stone structure designed by architect Norman Sturgis in the Late Gothic Revival architectural style and built in 1930. In 2005 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Trinity Church on the Green or Trinity on the Green is a historic, culturally and community-active parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut in New Haven, Connecticut, of the Episcopal Church. It is one of three historic churches on the New Haven Green.
1 2 3 Petito Jr., Robert A.; Waite, John G. (November 14, 2003). "Architectural History"(PDF). Cathedral of All Saints. Archived from the original(PDF) on November 15, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
1 2 3 4 George Lynde Richardson, Project Canterbury: William Croswell Doane, First Bishop of Albany (Hartford, Connecticut; Church Missions Publishing, 1933), found at Anglican History website G L Richardson page. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
↑ Frank Leslie, "The New Albany Cathedral (Cathedral of All Saints-Albany New York)", Frank Leslie's Magazine (1888), found at ALisbirs Book web site. Accessed February 13, 2008.
1 2 3 David Filkins, "Heavenly voices preserve joyful past: Cathedral of All Saints Choir of Men, Boys dates to 1872," December 1, 2008, Times Union, found at Times Union website. Accessed March 2, 2009.
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