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Washington National Cathedral Consecrated 'A House of Prayer for All People'

Episcopal News Service. October 10, 1990 [90257]

They came by the thousands -- church leaders, the President of the United States, the faithful, and the simply curious -- to stare in wonder as the last stone was hoisted into place at noon on September 29, completing the Washington National Cathedral.

The eager pressed tight against a barricade and stood on tiptoe to witness the historic moment. A breathless silence gave way to whispers, then to thunderous applause and cheers at the announcement that the final stone was in place.

"Bull's-eye!" yelled Joe Alonso, the cathedral's mason foreman, as the half-ton finial stone was gently guided into place on top of St. Paul's Tower. The booming voice of the construction supervisor, Richard Feller, announced from 250 feet above, "With God's help and the help of thousands of friends, the fabric of this cathedral is finished."

The dramatic completion of the cathedral -- almost 83 years to the hour from the laying of the cornerstone by President Theodore Roosevelt -- embodied a dream envisioned by Washington city planner Pierre L'Enfant, who in 1791 proposed the building of "a great church for national purposes."

President George Bush captured the spirit of the occasion when he said that the cathedral is "a symbol of our nation's spiritual life, overlooking the center of our nation's secular life.... A symbol that carries with it a constant reminder of our moral obligations."

Bush, an active Episcopalian, reported how the cathedral had been an important personal inspiration to his family, and he called upon the nation to contemplate the physical beauty of the cathedral that attests to the "invisible hand of God in the visible handiwork of man.

"From where we now stand, the rose window high above seems black and formless," Bush told the gathering. "But when we enter, we see it backlit by the sun; it dazzles in astonishing splendor. And it reminds us that -- without faith -- we, too, are but stained-glass windows in the dark."

Services touch soul of America

Bush said that the history of the cathedral was interwoven with the history of the country. He recounted numerous occasions when it had provided a space to grieve, to celebrate, and to express concern. He noted that the funerals of Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey were held there -- that Helen Keller, Admiral George Dewey, and President Woodrow Wilson are buried in the cathedral.

Bush recalled a litany of cathedral services that touched the soul of America -- a service of thanksgiving when American hostages were freed from Iranian captivity, a memorial for victims of the American embassy bombing in Beirut, a service of reflection on the 40th anniversary of Hiroshima, "and even now, prayers for our brave young servicemen and women in the harsh, distant desert."

The president said that the nation should pledge itself to a new vision inspired by the words spoken from the pulpit of the cathedral by the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., just three days before his death. "He said, 'We will bring about a new day of justice and brotherhood and peace. And on that day, morning stars will sing together and sons of God will shout for joy,'" according to Bush.

In an echo of Roosevelt's charge during the cornerstone ceremony, Bush concluded his remarks with the exclamation, "God speed the work completed this noon, and the new work yet to begin."

The ceremony marking the completion of the cathedral was part worship service, part state occasion. The cover of the program portrayed the American flag, and inside the print in red, white, and blue included "Prayers for Our Nation and People." A U.S. Marine band played several patriotic tunes, and even Barbara Bush wore a red and white dress with a navy blue blazer.

In introducing Bush, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning reminded the congregation of the sweeping changes in America since the cornerstone was laid. He pointed out that an evolving religious pluralism has made it possible for an Episcopal cathedral to be considered a "house of prayer for all people."

"I doubt if [the founders of the United States] had any idea how diverse we would become," Browning said. "Some of them would have been thoroughly dismayed at the thought. A Christian nation was a concept that made sense to them in a way that our understanding of religious pluralism makes impossible for us.

"We value diversity as a sign of the multiplicity of God's creation," Browning continued. "They spoke of a melting pot. We think in terms of a salad bowl."

Many features of the cathedral reflect American history, including two porticoes devoted, not to saints, but to Presidents Washington and Lincoln. The nave boasts two rows of stained-glass windows -- one depicting stories from the Bible and the other depicting events in U.S. history.

The cathedral is as long as two football fields, weighs 300 million pounds, seats 4,000 people, and contains more than 200 stained-glass windows -- one with a piece of moon rock embedded in the glass -- hundreds of gargoyles and angels. The church is built of Indiana limestone in the traditional stone-on-stone method of the medieval cathedral builders. The walls have no steel reinforcement, but are supported by stone buttresses.

History in the making

"It was thrilling to be here to see it finished," said Elizabeth Gleason, who lingered long after the ceremony ended. Gleason, an Episcopalian from Charlottesville, Virginia, reminisced with delight about her memories. "The first time I saw the cathedral was in the 1930s when I was 14 years old."

"I've always had a soft spot for the cathedral because we used to play hide-and-seek in the gardens when I was in high school," said Kate Wichman, who rode her motorcycle 45 minutes from her home in suburban Maryland to attend the ceremony.

"It sent goose bumps all up and down my body," gushed Susan Rapids, a Roman Catholic from a nearby town in Virginia. Even though Rapids didn't have a long association with the cathedral, she said that the completion ceremony had "a sense of grandeur. This was history in the making, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

As the crowd dispersed, 83-year-old Carlos van Leer -- who describes himself as "the only official jester in the Episcopal Church" -- sang ditties he wrote for the occasion, and adorned the cathedral grounds with a dash of medieval humor.

Shortage of funds threatened completion

At several points in the long and rocky struggle to complete the cathedral a shortage of funds threatened its completion. "Many times I thought we would never survive -- we'd never live to see the cathedral finished," said fifth-generation stone carver Vincent Palumbo.

In 1977 work on the building was halted indefinitely when the cathedral faced a $10.7 million debt. Bishop John T. Walker, Episcopal bishop of Washington from 1977 to 1989, helped raise enough money to repay the debt and keep the project alive. However, Walker warned the cathedral's sponsors that they should not allow it to become an "anachronism, a museum piece, a stop on a tour of the capital city."

Although Walker died unexpectedly on the eve of the final year of its construction, his vision of an expanded mission for the cathedral continued to drive the project toward completion. "John Walker rekindled the vision of those who gathered when the first stone was laid," said Browning at the completion ceremony.

"Our challenge is no longer how do you build a great cathedral; it's how do you be one," said the Rev. Leonard Freeman, canon at the cathedral.

First service in completed cathedral opens new era

As the first rays of morning light bathed the pinnacles of the newly completed cathedral, preparations were already underway for the consecration service. Gone were the network television crews, helicopters circling above, and the secret service that had stirred excitement on the previous day.

More than 4,000 faithful gathered for a dignified service that crowned an 83-year construction effort, and would usher in a new era of mission for the cathedral. The sound of organ, trumpet, and drums pierced the hushed sanctuary as Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning prepared to dedicate the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

As he entered the cathedral, Browning read an inscription on the namestone, thanking "friends more numerous than stones in the walls, who shared the vision of building this house of prayer for all people."

In his final sermon as cathedral provost, the Very Rev. Charles Perry challenged the congregation to remember the purpose of the cathedral: "This particular holy place helps keep life in perspective. Here we feel in its vast proportions the majesty of God and the smallness of humankind."

Perry, who will become dean of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, noted that the temptation throughout history to identify God's presence with a particular space or place has led to idolatry and religious chauvinism. "It is only a few steps from 'God dwells here' to 'this is God's holy place' to 'this is the very center of the world' to holy wars," he said.

Perry challenged the faithful to recall another theme in the New Testament "which locates the Holy Spirit in the human heart and not in the temple 'made with human hands.'" He asserted that the identification of God with a place, and the inner presence of God are ideas that "exist in tension."

Yet Perry said that "we do not have to choose between holy places and holy people," if we remember that the cathedral is "not to be venerated, but it helps to form and sustain us."

At the conclusion of the service marking a new beginning, the congregation prayed that God "would send us out to do the work you have given us to do."

On the lawn and the gardens surrounding the newly consecrated cathedral, families lingered in conversation sharing the excitement of three days. Many took photographs to prove they had participated in history. "After all, it is not every day they finish a cathedral," said one bystander. For three hours the bells in the great tower of the cathedral pealed out a celebration over the city, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another.