St. Andrew's Cathedral is an

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

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 ...

located in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is the seat of the Diocese of Mississippi. St. Andrew's is the third church to serve as the diocesan cathedral.

History

St. Andrew’s began as a mission station in 1839. The Domestic Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church in New York sent a clergyman, hymnals and prayer books. The congregation numbered eight communicants at its beginning. St. Andrew’s became a parish of the Diocese of Mississippi in 1843. It was the only parish at the time that was not located along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. Its church was burned by the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

in 1863. The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

for the second church was laid by the Rt. Rev.

William Mercer Green William Mercer Green (May 2, 1798 – February 13, 1887) was the first Episcopal bishop of Mississippi. Early life Green was born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1798.Batterson, 159 He was the son of William Green, a North Carolina rice plan ...

in 1869. By the turn of the Twentieth Century the congregation had outgrown its church building and the present structure was completed in 1903. The Parish House was constructed between 1923 and 1924. The congregation continued to grow and the building along West Street was built in 1955. The bishop moved his offices into the new building. The service area behind the church was made into a courtyard. The wing on the east side was built in 1987. Cathedrals in the Episcopal Church in the United States were not popular until the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

began. The Diocese of Mississippi was no different in this regard and did not have a cathedral in its first decades. St. Peter's Church in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

was named the first cathedral when the Rt. Rev. Hugh M. Thompson was bishop. Bishop Thompson moved to Jackson and believed the cathedral should be in the city where he resided. Therefore, St. Columba's Church was named the diocesan cathedral and served that purpose until just after Thompson's death. St. Andrew's, which grew to become the largest parish in the diocese, was elevated to be the cathedral on January 19, 1966. It became the third church in the diocese to serve this purpose.

Architecture

St. Andrew’s Cathedral was designed 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. When it was built the roof featured a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

in the middle of each side with elaborate trim, which was typical of the late Victorian period. After a fire in 1930 they were simplified. The interior of sanctuary is cruciform in shape, which is found in the center aisle and the crossing. There are no

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

to give that impression on the exterior. The windows throughout the church were filled with amber glass. They have subsequently been replaced with

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

since the 1950s. They were all given as memorials. The original

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

and

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

were made of carved wood. The marble altar, bronze winged angel, and pulpit were given as memorials. The pews all have a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...

carved in the end that represent the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

. The X-shaped cross, or

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltator ...

, that is found in several places in the cathedral is the emblem of

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrew's Cathedral, Jackson, Mississippi Religious organizations established in 1839 Churches completed in 1903 20th-century Episcopal church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in Mississippi Episcopal church buildings in Mississippi Andrew, Jackson Religious buildings and structures in Jackson, Mississippi

History

Architecture

See also

References