St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Memphis
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| St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral (Gailor Memorial) |
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| Basic information | |
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| Location | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Religious affiliation | Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Protestant) |
| District | Diocese of West Tennessee, Province IV |
| Year consecrated | 1926 (current building) |
| Ecclesiastical status | St. Mary's has been a cathedral church since 1871. It was originally organized in 1857. |
| Leadership | Rt. Rev. Don Johnson, Bishop of West Tennessee; the Very Rev. William E. "Andy" Andrews III, Dean |
| Website | StMarysMemphis.org |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | English Gothic Revival |
| Direction of facade | South |
| Year completed | 1926 |
| Specifications | |
Located near downtown Memphis, Tennessee, St. Mary's is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee. It was founded as a semi-rural Episcopal mission in 1857. It became cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee in 1871 and later the cathedral of the Diocese of West Tennessee with the creation of the three dioceses within Tennessee in 1983. Construction of its present Gothic Revival structure began in 1898 and was completed in 1926, when the parenthetical phrase "(Gailor Memorial)" was appended to the cathedral's formal name in honor of the Rt. Rev. Thomas Frank Gailor, Bishop of Tennessee and president of the National Council of the Episcopal Church.
Contents |
[edit] Martyrs and the cathedral
St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral is closely associated with two episodes of martyrdom known throughout the world. Both episodes dramatically reduced the size of St. Mary's congregation, either through death or controversy.
[edit] Constance and her companions
Memphis suffered periodic epidemics of yellow fever, a mosquito-borne viral infection, throughout the 19th century. The worst of the epidemics occurred in the summer of 1878, when 5,150 Memphians died. Five years earlier, a group of Episcopal nuns from the recently formed Sisterhood of St. Mary arrived in Memphis to take over operation of the St. Mary's School for Girls, which was relocated to the cathedral site.[1]. When the 1878 epidemic struck, a number of priests and nuns (both Protestant and Catholic), doctors, and even prostitutes stayed behind to tend to the sick and dying. The Episcopal nuns' superior, Sister Constance, three other Episcopal nuns, and two Episcopal priests are known throughout the Anglican Communion as "Constance and Her Companions" or the "Martyrs of Memphis". Added to the Episcopal Church's Lesser Feasts and Fasts in 1981, their feast day (September 9) commemorates their sacrifices.
A traditional Anglican prayer memorializes the Martyrs in this way:
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- We give thee thanks and praise, O God of compassion, for the Heroic witness of Constance and her companions, who, in a time of plague and pestilence, were steadfast in their care for the sick and the dying, and loved not their own lives, even unto death. Inspire in us a like love and commitment to those in need, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ...
- Episcopal nuns and priests who died from the epidemic
- Sister Constance (neé Caroline Louise Darling, b. Medway, Mass., 1846), superior of the work at Memphis, headmistress of St. Mary’s School for Girls.
- Sister Thecla, sacristan of St. Mary’s Cathedral and its school chapel, instructor in music and grammar (English and Latin)
- Sister Ruth, nurse at Trinity Infirmary, New York
- Sister Frances, a newly professed nun given charge of the Church Home orphanage
- The Rev. Charles Carroll Parsons, rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Memphis; former U.S. Army artillery commander, West Point alumnus and professor; served with classmate Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in Kansas, defense counsel in Custer's 1867 court-martial trial.
- The Rev. Louis S. Schuyler, newly ordained assistant rector at Parsons' prior parish, Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, Hoboken, New Jersey
[edit] Martin Luther King, Jr.
The second historic/tragic event that St. Mary's Cathedral attempted to mitigate was the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The day after King's death, Memphis clergy from many churches and synagogues met at the cathedral. In an impromptu move, Dean William Dimmick (later Bishop of Northern Michigan) took up the cathedral's processional cross and led the assembled ministers down Poplar Avenue to City Hall to petition Mayor Henry C. Loeb to end the labor standoff that King was in town to help negotiate. Nearly half of the cathedral's membership eventually left in protest of Dimmick's gesture of racial unity.
[edit] Membership
The cathedral's membership peaked at around 900 in the 1960s. Membership in 2007 is reported around 400, with three-fourths of the congregation older than age 50 and half older than 60. Weekly worship attendance averages 140, The Commercial Appeal reported in July 2007.
[edit] Finances
The cathedral announced in July 2007 that its annual budget was being reduced by $150,000. Funds from St. Mary's $3.2 million endowment had been used to make up a budget shortfall that stemmed from a decline in contributions attributed to a shrinking and aging membership.
Bishop Don Johnson of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee addressed rumors about the cathedral's financial situation. Johnson told The Commercial Appeal, "There's a myth that the cathedral is crashing and burning, but it's not going under, it's not closing, and it's not for sale. We're in a very methodical process of assessing the strengths of the cathedral to determine areas where we need to improve. It's in solid financial shape, but we have to tighten up and live within our budget."
[edit] Historic and contemporary images
 Dr. Richard Hines, first rector, 1857-1871 |
 Deacon Carol Gardner and Bishop Don Johnson in Easter procession 2007 |
 Displayed in the north transept, this stone is part of one of the columns of the balustrade that surrounded the ancient Pool of Bethesda. Brought from Jerusalem by Bishop Thomas F. Gailor, June 1, 1928. |
 "Sisters of St. Mary Window" |
 Original cathedral building c. 1898 |
 Sister's Chapel and St. Mary's School for Girls, c. 1900 |
 Recession after service |
 cross-section view |
 Interior view of West Front door |
 "West" front interior |
 Altar with cross enshrouded for Lent |
 Dean William A. Dimmick 1960 |
 "Saint on break" in Sisters' Chapel |
 Detail from the "Baptism Window" |
 Cathedral Guild Lunches 1906 |
 Sisters' Chapel (1888) is the oldest structure in the Cathedral complex. |
 The cathedral itself is flanked on the left by the Diocesan House and on the right by the Sisters' Chapel. |
 Glastonbury Abbey stone |
 Cathedral construction bond |
 Mary and Jesus |
 Parish Hall, built on the site of the Cloister Garden |
_of_the_Episcopal_Diocese_of_West_Tennessee.jpg/51px-Cathedra_(bishop's_seat)_of_the_Episcopal_Diocese_of_West_Tennessee.jpg){kind=spacer} Cathedra (bishop's seat) |
 looking east across nave |
 "South" transept windows |
 In 1962 Dean Sanders was consecrated as "Bishop Coadjutor Sanders," Diocese of Tennessee |
[edit] See also
- Episcopal Church in the United States of America
- Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee
- Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee
- Yellow fever
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Book of Common Prayer
- Sisterhood of St. Mary
[edit] References
- Project Canterbury sources
- Other sources
- A History of the Yellow Fever: The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, in Memphis, Tenn.
- St. Mary's Cathedral 1858-1958, John H. Davis [1958], published by the Chapter of St. Mary's Cathedral (Gailor Memorial), Memphis, Tennessee.
- Historic Processional Cross to Lead MLK-Day March, 2001 press release, Churches Uniting in Christ.
- "All Saints" sermon, p. 3, by the Rev. Joanna Seibert, St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, November 3, 2002.
- Glossary of liturgical terms, Episcopal Church
- Dowd, James. (2007, July 25). "St. Mary's goes budget-lean to keep doors open in changing times". The Commercial Appeal
