from the Rev. Dr. Lydia Agnew Speller,
St. Mark’s Church will celebrate the completion of two huge projects this Sunday, November 22nd at 10 a.m., a new pipe organ and a new accessible entrance.
The congregation will gather in the parish hall and process to the new East Entrance, often referred to as the “Jewel Box” because of its small size and resemblance to the building in Forest Park. After prayers of thanksgiving, selected parishioners have been invited to participate in a ceremonial “first ascent” in the elevator. The rest of the congregation will process into the church and give thanks for the organ. During the service, Robert S. Mullgardt, organist and choirmaster will be joined by five different members of the congregation in demonstrating the organ. The service will be followed by a festive reception in the parish hall. Everyone in the congregation and the community at large is invited to this joyful service.
The East Entrance was the work of Powers Bowersox Associates who skillfully honored and complemented the original Dunn and Nagel church building. St. Mark’s received the “Distinguished Building Award” from the St. Louis American Institute of Architects in 2009, an honor it shares with the Arch, St. Louis Abbey and a select group of other buildings. The award is given for a building, still in use for its original purpose, of enduring beauty.
The pipe organ is a twenty stop, twenty-three rank tracker instrument built by Juget-Sinclair Organ Builders of Montreal. While the organ includes state of the art electronics for setting combinations of stops, all of the pipes and case work have been made “from scratch.” The organ builders pour their own pipe metal, shape their own pipes and do their own design and carpentry. The mechanism which makes the pipes speak was used for centuries before electricity. The organ is made of Oak, the casework complements the architecture of the building and frames the Holy Innocents’ window.
Both projects were made possible by a bequest from Ruth Proehl, long time member of this congregation, who died in 2004.
The church plans an inaugural recital on Sunday April 18th, 2010 with Clive Driskill-Smith of Christ Church, Oxford and an on-going series of concerts and recitals.
KSDK-TV 5 story originally shown 11/17.
More about the celebration service, new entrance, and new organ at the parish website.
- Metro III Map by convocation
- St Mark-St Louis St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 4714 Clifton Ave., St. Louis, MO 63109, ph 314-832-3588, www.saintmarks-stl.org
