St. John's Anglican Cathedral is the designated

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 ...

and mother church of the

Anglican Diocese of Quincy The Anglican Diocese of Quincy is a member of the Anglican Church in North America, and is made up of 34 congregations in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Hawai'i, Colorado, Tennessee, and Florida, i ...

, located at 701 Hampshire Avenue in

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

. Established in 1837 as the first

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 ...

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 ...

church in Quincy, its current building dates to 1853 and is a contributing property to the

Downtown Quincy Historic District The Downtown Quincy Historic District is a historic district located in downtown Quincy, Illinois, containing numerous buildings showcasing some of the city's late 19th century and early 20th century architecture. In the 1800s, Quincy was a p ...

. The building is the oldest existing church in Quincy.

History

St. John's was founded in 1837 after a visit from

Philander Chase Philander Chase (December 14, 1775 – September 20, 1852) was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier, especially in Ohio and Illinois. Early life and family Born in Cornish, New Hampshire to o ...

, the missionary Episcopal Bishop of Illinois, who visited Quincy to officiate at services in the then-frontier town of less than 1,000 residents on 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 ...

. After Chase's visit, 20 Quincy residents gathered to form a parochial association for a new church named after

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. A frame church was erected on North Sixth Street, between Hampshire and Vermont, a block from the current location, and Chase consecrated the building on June 24, 1838, the

Nativity of John the Baptist The Nativity of John the Baptist (or Birth of John the Baptist, or Nativity of the Forerunner, or colloquially Johnmas or St. John's Day (in German) Johannistag) is a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of John the Baptist. It is observe ...

. In 1844, congregants chose the current site at 701 Hampshire as the location for a new church building. Architect Charles Howland designed an early Gothic revival edifice that was built with native limestone, completed in the 1850s. In 1877, the Diocese of Quincy was formed from the western area of the Episcopal Diocese of Illinois, and St. John's was designated as the cathedral. In 1962, the diocese moved its headquarters to Peoria and designated St. Paul's Episcopal Church as the cathedral. St. John's would again become cathedral after St. Paul's elected to join the

Episcopal Diocese of Quincy The Diocese of Quincy was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in western Illinois from 1877 to 2013. The cathedral seat (home of the diocese) was originally in Quincy, Illinois but was moved to St. Paul's Cathedral in Peoria in 1963. In order t ...

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 ...

. St. John's Parish experienced a split in 1994, when a majority of the parish objected to the direction of the Episcopal Church and departed to affiliate with the

Anglican Church in America The Anglican Church in America (ACA) is a Continuing Anglican church body and the United States branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC). The ACA, which is separate from The Episcopal Church, is not a member of the Anglican Communion ...

. This group formed a new church, also called St. John's and also designated the cathedral of the ACA Diocese of the Missouri Valley. It occupies a building on the south side of Quincy of modern construction but design similar to the historic St. John's Parish.

Worship

As part of the Diocese of Quincy, St. John's Parish is on the

high church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

end of the Anglican spectrum. It offers a spoken

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

at 8:30 a.m. and a sung Eucharist family service at 10:30 a.m. Quincy congregations use

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movemen ...

(2011) unless otherwise permitted by the bishop.

Architecture

The church, designed in an early Gothic revival style, was built of native, uncoursed

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and measures 75 feet by 40 feet. A rear and side

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

were added after the primary church building was constructed in the 1850s. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

includes 11 bells and is the only true

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

in Quincy. The church interior includes a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partner ...

and two stained glass windows crafted by

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

References

External links

St. John's Anglican Parish websiteDiocese of Quincy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Anglican Parish Religious organizations established in 1837 Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Anglican cathedrals in the United States 1837 establishments in Illinois Anglican Church in North America church buildings in the United States Historic district contributing properties in Illinois Former Episcopal church buildings in the United States Anglican realignment congregations 19th-century Anglican church buildings in the United States