Calvary Episcopal Church (Pittsburgh)

Calvary Episcopal Church is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The parish was founded in 1855.
In 1854, Mrs. Mathilda Dallas Wilkins, a prominent East Liberty resident and the wife of Judge William Wilkins, requested unsuccessfully of Bishop Alonzo Potter, the third bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, that an Episcopal parish be founded in East Liberty. Not to be deterred, Mrs. Wilkins spearheaded an organizational meeting for a new parish. The Rev. William Paddock agreed to lead regular services for a new congregation on the condition that an appropriate worship site was found. Rev. Paddock, along with thirteen others, then incorporated Calvary Episcopal Church, subsequently adopting a charter and by-laws. The first services of the new Calvary congregation were held in January 1855 in space rented from a German Lutheran Church. The building was located in an alley between Collins and Sheridan avenues in the Village of East Liberty. Within a year, Calvary bought this first building.
The Calvary congregation grew and, in 1861, decided to purchase a lot a few blocks east of its first site at the corner of Penn Avenue and Station Street. On this property Calvary built a Gothic revival church that featured a ribbed-vaulted ceiling and steeply pitched Victorian roof. The architect was Richard Upjohn; construction cost was $9,000, of which $4,000 was mortgaged. As the parish continued to grow, major additions were erected between 1870 and 1895. Calvary called its fourth rector, Boyd Vincent, in 1874 and the parish grew rapidly under his leadership. During this time, the church began new missions that continued long after his rectorship. By 1900, Calvary Episcopal Church was the largest and most influential parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Calvary can be credited with the creation of several missions in the Pittsburgh region, sparked largely by Boyd Vincent, that eventually became established Episcopal parishes in Wilkinsburg (St. Stephen's), Oakland (Ascension), Mt. Lebanon (St. Paul's), and Fox Chapel (Fox Chapel Episcopal Church).
At the turn of the twentieth century, East Liberty's demographics began to change and the challenges of neighborhood decline caused Calvary congregation to consider relocation. In December 1904, the Calvary Vestry met to consider the sale of the Penn Avenue church and the construction of a new, larger structure. The decision to move was not an easy one. Although traffic noise from Penn Avenue and the Pennsylvania Railroad made the second location less desirable, church members felt great affection for their second church building. In early 1905, parishioners agreed to sell the second church property and authorize the purchase of a property on the northeast corner of Shady Avenue and Walnut Street for the new church.
For its new building on Shady Avenue, Calvary selected Ralph Adams Cram as architect. The choice was perhaps a surprising one given Cram's championing of Gothic architecture, which favored "high church" tendencies, and Calvary congregation's preference of "low church" practices. In example, the "low church" characteristic is evidenced in that Morning Prayer was the most common form of Sunday worship, while the Eucharist was only celebrated once a month. Reconciling this difference, Cram promised his design would be "strong, chaste, and uplifting." He drew inspiration of Calvary Church from Netley and Tintern abbeys in England. His vision included elements of Arthurian mysticism as well as Anglo-Catholicism. The spire and arches, according to Cram, "point us upward," the cross "everywhere crowns the whole," and "the ornament everywhere visible on buttress and balustrade, on door and windows and wall, is the shield as a symbol of the power of faith."
On December 19, 1907, Calvary held its first service in the imposing Gothic structure on Shady Avenue, which, at that time, consisted only of the church connected to a three-story parish house. The total cost was $400,000, but within seven years Calvary was free of debt, due in part to the generous assistance of industrialist, Henry Clay Frick. Frick's daughter, Helen Clay Frick, donated 11 bells from the Meneely Bell Foundry in Troy, NY, which can still be heard ringing from Calvary's landmark tower. Despite Cram's grand Gothic architecture, Calvary parish continued worship for many years in a "low church" fashion. Eventually, however, the grandeur and size of the new building led to a greater use of pageantry, more formal vestments, and full processions with choir, clergy, and acolytes. These being attributes of "high church" ritual, the influence of Cram's architecture had effect on the congregation.
From the congregation's beginning in 1855, Calvary relied on pew rentals to raise money for expenses. Under Calvary's by-laws, only members who rented pews were permitted to vote in annual parish meetings. By the 1940s, there was no longer availability of pews to rent, resulting in the disenfranchisement of some members. At its 1950 annual meeting, the vestry passed a resolution ending pew rentals. There is some documentation, though, that pledging and pew rentals occurred simultaneously during a period of transition.
Through the 1970s, Calvary followed a socially liberal course, while the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh shifted toward conservatism. This greatly impacted Calvary's influence within the Pittsburgh Diocese and upon its ability to advocate in the national Episcopal Church. Calvary was at the forefront of the ordination of women in the Episcopal Church. In 1974, the Rev. Beryl Choi, one of the first ordained women in the Church's history, became the first woman to hold a continuing parish appointment as a priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Since then, women have always been represented among the clergy at Calvary.
Cram believed that "the foundation of good architecture and structural integrity" was made visible in his work at Calvary Church. When viewing the church's exterior, the concept of an organic whole is observed by a clear and layered geometry. Each part - the tower, transepts, lancets, buttress, and west facade - form a cohesive whole. The Indiana limestone exterior presents a refined austerity, assisting in the way the building's form points toward the heavens at ever-higher levels. The viewer's eye is eased upward by the repeating, slender, and triple lancets as well as the play of light and shadow across the church's surface. Cram justifiably took great pride in the tower and remarked on it in his memoirs: "The central tower I look upon with a certain satisfaction, since there appears a new solution of the old problem of the transition from the square of the basic tower to the polygon of the spire. The building's exterior forms give promise of what lies inside this great sacred vessel." In a 1907 letter he described it as, "The best thing we ever did or shall do."
Cram greatly disliked the stained glass of his contemporaries, John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany, and wanted his churches to reflect earlier medieval aesthetics. Having difficulty finding craftsmen to recreate such techniques in the United States, Cram often turned to English artisans for stained glass. Heaton, Butler, and Bayne of London designed twenty-three windows in Calvary Church, including the large transept window of early English saints, martyrs, and missionaries. Cram eventually discovered two important American stained glass artists in Pittsburgh with whom he could work.
Pittsburgh's great innovator in stained glass was William Willet (1869–1921), the art director of Pittsburgh Stained Glass Company. Willet's first window was installed during 1903 in First Presbyterian Church downtown, two years before construction began at Calvary Church. This window was celebrated as the first antique medallion window produced in the country to emulate medieval standards. Cram saw the window, was impressed by it, and hired Willet to work in Calvary Church. Willet designed the East (Passion) Window above Calvary's high altar, the Annunciation window in the Lady Chapel, and the third window in the nave's north aisle depicting The Greatest in the Kingdom.
The second artisan in Pittsburgh significant to Calvary's stained glass was Charles J. Connick (1875–1945). Connick originally worked under Willet at the Pittsburgh Stained Glass Company. He, having studied with Willet, was also a leader in the recreation of medieval stained glass techniques. Some of his best work is located in Pittsburgh, including Calvary Episcopal Church, where there are fourteen major windows plus sixteen lantern tower and twelve chancel clerestory windows by him in the church. Connick also designed several other windows located throughout the building.
Other stained glass windows in Calvary Episcopal Church include works by Cox & Sons of London, England; Harry E. Goodhue Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Gorham Company of New York, New York; and Reynolds, Francis & Rohnstock of Boston, Massachusetts.
C.J. Connick, Boston, Mass
Cox & Sons, London, England
Harry E. Goodhue Company, Cambridge, Mass
Gorham Company, New York, NY
Heaton, Butler & Bayne, London, England
Reynolds, Francis & Rohnstock, Boston, Mass
Willet Stained Glass Company, Pittsburgh, Penna
One of the craftsmen who joined Cram in founding the Society of Arts and Crafts was John Kirchmayer (1860–1930). Kirchmayer's woodcarving is seen throughout Calvary's interior. The woodcarving was overseen by Irving and Casson, for whom Kirchmayer worked. Kirchmayer, born in Obergammergau, Bavaria, was the first woodcarver Cram met in America who knew how to create the medieval style carvings he needed for his churches. Cram's design for the woodwork at Calvary was inspired from 15th century examples in Devonshire and Essex, England.
The tile and marble floor pattern of the chancel represents heaven by use of a cross within a square and is similar to a floor design at St. Chad's Church Burton-on-Trent, England. The cross materials are Knoxville white marble, the borders are of green tiles, the background is of reddish-brown tiles made by Addison Brayton Le Boutillier for the Grueby Faience Company of Boston. The corner tiles depict the symbols of the four evangelists, and the background and border tiles represent the garden of paradise.
The 1991–1993 restoration included plaster repairs, cleaning of stone, and addition of handicapped access ramps. The pendant lights were moved to the center of the bays to provide more uniform light, and a new wood floor was installed to replace the former wood floor under the pews to improve the acoustic performance of the space. A crossing platform was added to extend the level of the chancel towards the nave and to provide a place for a temporary altar closer to the congregation for medium-sized services (the transept pews were turned to face the new platform at this time); the new platform also provided safer passage to the lectern. New floor tile for the platform was carefully made by hand in North Carolina so as to match the original and allow for repairs to the original floor where needed. The crossing chandelier, having been taken down and deconstructed (the large ring had been used in the Narthex), was restored and reconstructed from pieces found in the basement. The All Saints' Chapel altar rail, installed in 1924, was removed and relocated to the baptistery (the chapel had been renamed "All Saints' Chapel" from "St. Andrew's Chapel" around 1940). The new parclose screen in the All Saints' Chapel was made by Herbert Read Ltd. of Tiverton, Devon, England. In the Lady Chapel, two reconstructions of the original electric lamps designed by Cram's partner Bertram Goodhue were hung in the space. A wood screen was added to define the space of the All Saints' Chapel, and an original lighting fixture was installed.
All of these minor interior modifications have left Cram's original design essentially intact. They have enhanced the use of the space for its use as a house of worship today.
The parish house wing has had several renovations. The major spaces and their original architectural appointments, however, have survived intact, although some of these spaces were renamed and reassigned to different uses. The 1975 addition created the large multi-purpose parish hall, which although carefully integrated to existing hallways, has a more contemporary feeling. The 2004 interior renovation undid 1951 alterations, simplified circulation, added elevators and other accessibility improvements. Work was carefully designed and executed to match original details and finishes.
The Parish House wing was used as a U.S. military hospital during the influenza epidemic of 1918. In 1918, Cram designed the Celtic Cross World War I Memorial; it was made by the New England Granite Company of Westerly, Rhode Island. In the yard north of the church is a gabled stone site sign which was designed by Cram and installed in 1918.
Calvary has held an important place in history of radio broadcasting. On January 2, 1921, the first ever radio broadcast of a church service was conducted from Calvary Episcopal Church by the International Radio Company on KDKA Westinghouse with the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. A bronze tablet commemorating the event was installed in 1923. The live radio broadcasts continued for nineteen years.
In 1949, a Second World War Memorial was dedicated in the church with the names of 493 men and women veterans of the parish carved into the north wall. The memorial was designed by Pittsburgh architects Schwab, Ingham, and Davis. The baptismal font Cram designed was moved from south of the chancel to north of the chancel at the War Memorial wall.
In 1951, the Rev. Sam Shoemaker, who already had a nationwide radio show, accepted a call as the church's 12th rector. Shoemaker, who helped to found Alcoholics Anonymous and had long served as rector of Calvary Church in New York City, soon launched what he called the "Pittsburgh Experiment", seeking to bring Christian values into the workplace and everyday life. Although Shoemaker died in 1963 and the church recently installed its 16th rector, Shoemaker's legacy lives on in the Next Step Group which meets Tuesdays and Saturdays at the church.
In 1973–74, a columbarium was installed in the ambulatory between the Lady Chapel and the chancel. It contains 250 niches for 850 urns. It was designed by Pittsburgh architect Lawrence Wolfe, bronze work made by the J.H. Matthews Company of Pittsburgh, wood work made by John Winterich and Company, Cleveland, Ohio.
The current building's first organ, a gift of Mr. John B. Jackson and Miss Jackson, was built by the M.P. Moller Company of Hagerstown, Maryland and used between 1907 and 1963. The instrument had four divisions and electric-pneumatic action. The instrument was described in 1908 as "fully adequate to the great size of the building, filling it to the utmost when desired, and yet the softest tones are heard in the most remote parts of the church." This organ console sat on a platform near the High Altar.
The second and current organ in Calvary Church is by Casavant Frères Limitée, Opus 2729, 1963. The case of the Casavant organ was carved by Andrew Druscelli of Irving and Casson A.H. Davenport Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts. As part of the 1991–1993 restorations, a new organ console was constructed to accommodate the enlargement and enhancement of the instrument. It was moved from being closer to the altar to its present location behind the lectern, facing the center of the chancel to allow the organist to face the choir.
Over the past several years, Calvary Episcopal Church has contracted with Luley & Associates to make revisions and repairs to its 1963/1991 Casavant Freres organ (IV/138). These revisions include: the replacement of the Recit chorus reeds; the addition of several new ranks of flue pipes; recomposition and revoicing of several Mixtures; the addition of the 8' Tuba Mirabilis on the Grand Orgue; the replacement of the Antiphonal 8' Trompette en Chamade; revoicing of select existing flue pipework; replacement of the Solid State control system; replacement and expansion of the console coupler rail and controls; new face plates for pistons and stop knobs. A new Pedal 32' Ophicleide unit speaks at 32', 16', and 8' pitches.
Other instrumental resources include a continuo organ (Taylor & Boody Op. 59, 2007), Bechstein grand piano, ca. 1890, an Italian-style harpsichord (Dupree, 1984), a pair of Ludwig timpani, a set of Dutch-style handbells, and eleven cast-bronze Meneely bells housed in the tower.
According to Calvary Archives, the Rev. Edwin van Etten, eighth Rector of Calvary Church, chose St. Michael as the patron saint of Calvary in 1923. The twelfth Rector, the Rev. Samuel Shoemaker, reaffirmed this choice in the 1950s. Ever since, St. Michael has been Calvary's patron. Ralph Adams Cram included numerous images of Michael throughout the building. There are at least twelve images of Michael including stained glass windows, statues behind the High Altar and All Saints’ Chapel Altar and War Memorial Cross, to the shield on the Rector’s Chair.
In 1936, Calvary Congregation recognized a need to engage its youth during summer months. Through a gift of Mrs. Harry E. Sheldon, Calvary purchased the YMCA Camp Porter (renamed The Harry E. Sheldon-Calvary Camp) on the shores of Lake Erie near Conneaut, Ohio. An endowment for maintenance was started by an additional twenty-five Calvary Parishioners. The property comprised fifty-two acres, with a lake frontage of a thousand feet with buildings and equipment. Later several permanent cabins, showers, administration buildings, a craft house and a dispensary were built and the property improved with athletic fields. The cost of these additions were met by gifts of members of the congregation. Calvary Camp continues to the present day as a ministry of the Diocese of Pittsburgh with sponsorship from Calvary Church.
In 2003, Calvary Episcopal Church sued the Pittsburgh Diocese and Bishops Robert Duncan and Henry Scriven over actions taken by a special convention the Diocese held after the 2003 General Convention. At the special convention, the Diocese had passed a resolution that asserted that all property of individual parishes belonged to the parishes themselves, rather than to the diocese. In the suit, Calvary claimed that the Diocese could not take such an action, as it violated the Dennis Canon. Eventually, the suit was settled out of court. The final settlement did not affirm Calvary Church's central contention that diocesan property was held in trust for the national church, but it created a process by which the diocese agreed to make decisions about property and assets should a congregation wish to leave the diocese.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited Pittsburgh and delivered a sermon to an audience of 1,100 on Thursday, October 25, 2007 in Calvary Church. A tablet was erected to commemorate the event. During this visit, Archbishop Tutu was given honorary degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.