The Church of the Holy Communion is an historic stone Episcopal church building located at 116 North Minnesota Avenue St. Peter,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, United States. Designed by noted ecclesiastical architect

Henry Martyn Congdon Henry Martyn Congdon (May 10, 1834 – February 28, 1922) was an American architect and designer. The son of an Episcopal priest who was a founder of the New York Ecclesiological Society, he was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1854, he graduate ...

of New York City in the

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 ...

style of architecture, it was built in 1869 of

Kasota limestone Kasota limestone or simply, Kasota stone, also called Mankato stone, is a dolomitic limestone found in southern Minnesota, especially near the Minnesota River and its tributaries. This sedimentary rock is part of the Oneota Dolomite of southern ...

. It features

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (si ...

and a steeply sloping

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...

with smaller gabled eye-windows on each slope of the roof. On May 19, 1983, the building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

The first Episcopal service in St. Peter was held on October 27, 1854 at the home of St. Peter's founder Captain William Bigelow Dodd and his wife Harriet. Bishop Jackson Kemper officiated at the service which was attended by 37 people. Mrs. Dodd was instrumental in inviting Bishop Kemper to St. Peter. A parish was soon established and the first church a wood-frame structure was built in 1855 near where the current stone church stands. The Rev. Ezra Jones was the first rector of the congregation, he was succeeded by Rev. Edward Livermore who was rector at the time the current church was constructed. The bell from the first church was placed in the tower of the new church and has rung on the death of every American president since Abraham Lincoln. The bodies of Captain Dodd, his wife Harriet, and two of their children—Willis Gorman Dodd and Harriet Virginia Dodd—lie buried in a grave behind the present church.

Current status

The church is still an active parish in the

Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota The Episcopal Church in Minnesota, formerly known as the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which has jurisdiction over all of Minnesota, except Clay County, which is in the Episco ...

. Its current rector is the Rev. Dr. Thomas D. Harries. Rev. Harries will be retiring as of the end of April 2022.Church of the Holy Communion: Contacts

References

External links

Church of the Holy Communion website
{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Nicollet County, Minnesota Episcopal church buildings in Minnesota Gothic Revival church buildings in Minnesota Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Churches completed in 1869 Stone churches in Minnesota 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Limestone churches in the United States 1869 establishments in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Nicollet County, Minnesota