All Saints Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in

Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the 2020 ...

. Founded in 2007 as part of the

Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...

by a priest from an Episcopal church in nearby West Newsburyport, it serves today as the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

parish for the

Anglican Diocese in New England The Anglican Diocese in New England is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The diocese, based in Amesbury, Massachusetts, comprises 30 congregations in 6 American states, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhod ...

. The church occupies an older

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building that was formerly Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Boston.

History

History of the building

Sacred Heart Church opened in 1903 as a French-speaking parish to serve a growing population of French-Canadian Catholics in Amesbury. The current building opened on Christmas Eve in 1928. The edifice is a masonry brick structure built in the Gothic style; the campus included a church nave with a 70-foot bell tower, a school and offices. In 1998, the Archdiocese of Boston consolidated Sacred Heart and the nearby Church of St. Joseph into a single parish, Holy Family. In September 2006, in light of rising insurance costs and settlements stemming from Catholic clergy sex abuse, the archdiocese decided to sell the Sacred Heart property.

Founding of All Saints

In July 2007, objecting to the consecration of

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to th ...

as bishop of New Hampshire, a symptom of the Episcopal Church's continuing departure from orthodox Scripture interpretation, the Rev.

Bill Murdoch Bill Murdoch (born January 10, 1945 died August 16, 2022) was a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 2011, representing the riding of Bruce—Grey—O ...

—rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in West Newburyport—left the Episcopal Church and was made a bishop in the

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordin ...

. Murdoch and a large number of the All Saints congregation also founded a new church, also named All Saints, in nearby Amesbury. In September 2007, the church plant purchased the building of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Amesbury. "The Cardinal Archbishop of Boston, like so many ecumenical allies, moved heaven and earth (as they say) to make this place available for homeless Anglicans," ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan later commented.

Designation as a cathedral

In 2009, Murdoch was elected the first bishop of the newly created Anglican Diocese in New England. He continued to serve concurrently as rector of All Saints, and in 2010, the church was designated the pro-cathedral of the diocese. Murdoch resigned as rector to focus on his episcopal role in 2012 and was succeeded by the Rev. Nathan Baxter in 2014 following the interim rectorate of the Rev. Canon Susan Skillen. In 2016, ADNE officially named All Saints its cathedral. Baxter was succeeded as rector by the Rev. Canon Justin Howard, a church planter from

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

, in 2019. Rev. Howard was replaced by interim rector Rev. Canon Ross Kimball in May 2023.

Bell tower repairs

In the winter of 2019–2020, the bell tower's

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

partially collapsed inward due to water intrusion and cycles of freezing and thawing destabilizing the brick structure. Masons determined that the parapet could not be stabilized. All Saints raised $90,000 for restoration work, which was undertaken in 2022. The top 20 feet of the bell-less bell tower was removed down to a concrete

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, and then rebuilt two feet up with a peer on each corner, recessed brick walls between the peers and a copper roof.

Current status

Leadership

All Saints and ADNE support the ordination of women to the priesthood, and Howard's wife, Amy Howard, was previously an Anglican priest on staff at All Saints, whose tenure was also ended in May 2023. Ordained women on All Saints staff include the Rev. Canon Susan Skillen and Deacon Martha Learned. ADNE maintains its diocesan offices on the All Saints campus and the church plays a role in hosting numerous diocesan events.

Programs

All Saints' programs include a nine-month "

discipleship In Christianity, disciple primarily refers to a dedicated follower of Jesus. This term is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. Discipleship is not the ...

residency" to help young adults discern their calling and develop spiritually. Four to eight fellows live on the All Saints campus and work in surrounding Amesbury. All Saints also offers the Alpha course.

References

External links

All Saints Church homepageADNE website
{{DEFAULTSORT:All Saints Church Religious organizations established in 2007 Churches completed in 1928 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings 2007 establishments in Massachusetts Anglican Church in North America church buildings in the United States Anglican cathedrals in the United States Anglican realignment congregations 20th-century Anglican church buildings in the United States