Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-24
n WESTMINSTER ABBEY
- IN PHILADELPHIA

IN PHILADELPHIA
WALKING down Tenth street just below
w Market We noticed the other day that
workmen are again busy in st. Stephens
Church The interior of the church is
being redecorated in harmony with the
uniquely beautiful chancel the gift OF Miss
Anna Magee, in memory of her sister
Fannie Mageel This interesting edifice
one of the plainest of the city's churches
| in exterior, is inwardly marvel Of beauty
The exquisite eastern windows, which
sleam with brilliant blue and opal tints
through delicate lacework of white mar
bic almost unbelievably frail and grace.
fuD, are a vision of quiet lovelness. On
Saturday morning the doors Of the church
were open while the workmen were busy
| within, and many passers-by who had not
| seen the windows before were lured by
this CLEAN of deep and sparkling blue to
| step inside the church and admire.
DuRING the energetic rectorship Of DR..
~ Carl Grammer. who has occupied ST
| Stephens pulpit since 1905, the treasures
| Of the church have been notably increased
| The generosity of st. Stephens friends has
| been unfailing and considering the number
of remarkable memorials and beauties his
church houses, Doctor Grammers own
| name for the shrine seems not inappro.
| PIRATE. He speaks of it as "Phiadelphia's
| Westminster Abbey"
| CT STEPHENS is notable as an exam
~ pie Of the many services that may be
performed by an active church in the
| heart Of the business district. Many men
| who do not attend any religious services
regularly are grateful to st. Stephens for
| the noon services held there daily dhrins
| Lent. These services, which have been
| held for many years are remarkably
popular, the annual attendance having ex-
| ceeded $4,000, with a daily average OF more
| than 500. In June, 1917, the church opened
clubrooms for men in the service, and
more than $4,000 soldiers and sailors have
| registered there in the last year. The
| churchs service flag shows fifty stars.
| THE severely plain and fortresslike
edifice of st. Stephens so familiar to
| all who pass along Tenth street, was oriri-
| nally Methodist church, taken over and
| remodeled for the new congregation in
| panson in the Episcopal Church. which
| had hy that time outlved the prejudice
against it inherited from Revolutionary
| timesD as the Church Of England. From
the beginning st. Stephens seems to have
| had friendly relation with the South
| and became favorite place Of worship
| for Southerners in Philadelphia. One of
the earliest monuments erected in the
| l.lz,, ,,,,al, L..
| the memory Of three young Southerners
| medical students at the University Of Penn
| sylvania, who died in the course Of their
studies. This was in 1925
DR. HENRY w. DUCACHET a man Of
Livery great charm and social attractive
| ness. was rector 1S34-1S65, aud under his
| care st. Stephens became Of the lead.
| ing social churches of the city. Many old
Philadelphia families Of wealth and refine.
| ment worshiped here, but the church has
never forgotten that the duties of sacred
| edifice extend to every caste. Under Doc
| tor Ducachets rectorship St Stephens
| became an illustrious example Of the
| Episcopalian tendency to ally the Church
with the arts. Colonel Edward Shipper
| Burd, who died in 1S4s, left instructions in
his will for a memorial to be erected to the
| memory of his three deceased children.
| The .Burd memorial, executed in Italian
marble by the famous German sculptor
| Stenhauser, is one of the most beautiful
! pieces of its kind in the country. A replica
of it was erected in Bremen, the sculptor's
| native city. 1t is known as The Angel of
the Resurrection"
| TNHE recumbent effigy of Colonel Burd
| L and the magnificent marble font (also
| by Steinhauser were the gift of Colonel
| Burd's widow in 1S49 and 1859. The font
| is very interesting: three cherubs support
the bowl on their wings. Each cherub
| holds one of the instruments of the
Saviours torture--the nail, the thorn and
| the spear The cherub with the nail is
shown testing the sharpness Of the point
on his chubby hand. Inside the bowl are
carved several fish, representing, of course,
the secret symbol of early Christian faith.
IN 1889 the Venetian mosaic of the Last
L Supper, which contains more than
10000 tesserae, was erected by the gener-
osity of the Magee family This was ex-
ecuted partly by Italian workmen and
| partly by the artist, Henry Holiday, of
London, the versatile craftsman who is
also we'll known for very different type
of work in his illustrations for Lewis
CAROLS Hunting of the Shark" The new
organ was also given By the Magee family,
and voiced" in the church under the su
pervison of Dr. David Wood, the famous
blind musician, who was organist of St.
Stephens for forty.six years.
TT IS impossible in the compass of a few
L paragraphs to mention all the beauties
of st. stephens, but no account, however
brief, can omit the touching memorial to
Maria Gouverneur Mitchell, the daughter