Grace Episcopal Cathedral is located in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, United States. It is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas.

History

Grace Cathedral started as a mission founded by the Rev. Charles M. Callaway. The first service was held on January 20, 1857 at Constitution Hall, a building used by John Farnsworth for his general merchandise business. Two years later services were moved to the Ritchie Block. The convention for the Diocese of Kansas met there on April 11 and 12, 1860 and on September 9 Grace Mission was legally incorporated as Grace Church. Bethany Place, a school for young women, had been opened the same year and was attached to Grace Church. A new church building was completed in 1865. It contained an altar built of native walnut that has been used ever since. Grace Church was named the diocesan cathedral by the Convention of the Diocese of Kansas in June 1879. Part of the Bethany Place property was set aside for the construction of a new cathedral in 1886. Financial difficulties, however, delayed its construction. The foundation for the present cathedral was laid in 1910 and the walls were completed in 1912. The final fundraising push was initiated by Bishop Frank Rosebrook Millspaugh and Dean J. P. DeBevers Kaye. The structure was completed, minus the towers, in 1917. They were completed along with the rest of the cathedral complex under the leadership of Dean John Warren Day (1927-1957) and Dean Leslie Skerry Olsen (1957-1984). On November 26, 1975 the cathedral was extensively damaged in a fire set by an

arsonist Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, waterc ...

. Services were held in the Great Hall utilizing the old walnut altar, which had been saved, until the cathedral was reopened on October 1, 1978. The current building has had much work done in recent years to update and keep the maintenance up. A renovation of the 1951 Cloister building was completed in late 2014, featuring a two story tall main entrance Common Room. A capital campaign is currently underway to build a new main floor parish hall to the south onto the Bethany Place grounds of the Diocese of Kansas.

Architecture

The architects of the cathedral were Root & Siemens of Kansas City.David Sachs, "Grace Episcopal Cathedral", opeka, Kansas SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/KS-01-177-0004. The

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

structure was built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style. The exterior features two towers that flank the main

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

. They were modeled after those of

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

Oxford, England Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. A 1921 history book by Dean J.P. DeBevers Kaye states, the towers of French design (eventually surmounted by spires) resemble in some respects the Church of St. Corentin, at Quimper, in Brittany. The structure is covered in Kansas Silverdale

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

quarried from St. Mary's, Kansas. A 3000-pound block of the same stone produced the free-standing High Altar. The pulpit is sandstone, removed from a redundant parish in Dewsbury, England. A handcrafted copper fleche is located at the crossing. The interior features an oak wood truss ceiling that is supported by hammered beams and columns with hand carved stone capitals. American-made stained glass windows by Judson Studios and Willet Hauser Studio illuminate the space. The organ was built in 1978 by Schantz Organ Company as Opus 1492. There are 4 manuals, 53 stops, 65 ranks, and 3820 pipes. Additions and enhancements made by Schantz and

Reuter Organ Company Reuter Organ Company is a pipe organ builder located in Lawrence, Kansas. History Establishment The Reuter Organ Company was founded in 1917 by A.C. Reuter, Earl Schwarz and Henry Jost as the Reuter-Schwarz Organ Company in Trenton, Illino ...

Photos

References

{{Authority control Churches in Topeka, Kansas Episcopal church buildings in Kansas Episcopal cathedrals in Kansas Churches completed in 1917 20th-century Episcopal church buildings Religious organizations established in 1857 1857 establishments in Kansas Territory Gothic Revival church buildings in Kansas

History

Architecture

Photos

See also

References