(This is an extended version of the article in the December newsletter by Fr. Tom Honderich.)

Some time ago, Marge Olson, Parish Administrator of St. Paul’s Church, contacted me to ask if we had any use for the old altar which served the "Side Chapel" since they built the new church in 1946. Father Steve and I have been ruminating about what to do about the north transept and we thought this might be our solution. During the 90s the Mary Chapel got disassembled for various reasons. All Saints made several major changes to the church during this period, primarily to the sanctuary, and more specifically to the area behind the communion rail. Prior to that time, the Mary statue (currently the main feature of the north transept) was located where the lectern now resides. The eagle lectern fell out of favor for a while during the 60s. I recall a conversation about it once and there was some disdain about its presence at the front of the church. During the 60s, when there was so much civil unrest, it was for many of the disenfranchised a symbol of imperialism. After all, the eagle is on our money among other things governmental—symbols of power. Somehow, the symbolism of the gospel being carried on eagle wings was lost, and the connection with negative attributes of power became the meaningful symbol. For whatever reason, and probably a thoughtful rector's discretion, the eagle resided in the niche at the back of the church in the 70s when I came. 

During the sanctuary renovation (Fr. Hanson's rectorate), several changes were made: the floor of the sanctuary was raised, the sedilia (presider's seat) was moved behind the altar (it used to be on the northside at floor level), the retable (a shelf to hold candles) was removed from the apse wall behind the altar, and the aumbry was mounted in the wall on the pulpit side. Mary needed to make room for the lectern, the anxiety about its symbolism having subsided. The north transept had been segregated from the nave during the 50s with an iron gate to make a small chapel which could remain open all the time. Mary took up temporary residence on the north wall of the transept. She has been wandering in the desert ever since, having spent time in the niche at the back of the church, and various other incidental and occidental locations.
 
During Nan Pete's rectorate, All Saints relinquished the parish house to the south of the church to the Day Spring Center in favor of the new building on the north side. That transition caused a traffic jam. We needed to provide easier access to the new building and the obvious connection was through the north chapel doors. The iron gates were removed—if you think egress is difficult now through that narrow old confessional, you should have seen the traffic pattern with the iron gates spanning the archway of the transept!  A 50s style formica altar graced the east wall of the transept. Above it was a baldichino (a blue and silver painted shelf-like canopy made of masonite—its major purpose to house a fluorescent tube) was held in place by iron chains and extended from the east wall, canopying the altar. The iron cross with the ivory corpus which is currently in the parish hall was hung on a blue curtain which covered the brick wall and the door to the tower. It really didn't look as bad as I make it sound. It had a certain medieval appeal—well, as much a medieval appeal as masonite and formica can simulate. I do not recall that mass was ever said at that altar during my time in the parish. Our parishioner, Margaret Barnard, could fill in some details—I think she made the blue dossal curtain. The chapel space became primarily a access to the parish hall, although, more recently, it has served as a devotional area with votive candles while Mary is in residence. 
 
All of this is background is to say that the inquiry from St. Paul’s stirred a couple of longings: one, that the space become less transcient, and two, that Mary might be able to retire from her wanderings. There is a legend that after the crucifixion, John, the beloved disciple, took Mary by boat to Ephesus and built a house there for her to spent her remaining years. So maybe we can help her settle down. 

As Fr. Steve mention in an email recently, the altar was delivered December 6. It is crated for now. It brings with it a lot of historical dust of the diocese. Along with its rerodos (the panel behind the altar), it is dedicated to Bishops George Upfold (1849-1872), Joseph Cruikshank Talbot (1872-1883), and David Buell Knickerbacker (1883-1894). St. Paul’s (the old church, downtown at New York and Illinois Streets and long since torn down to build an insurance company building) was the cathedral during the time these men served as Ordinary to the diocese (1838-1885). The reredos identifies these bishops as the first three bishops of the diocese—which is not historically accurate. The Right Reverend Jackson Kemper (1838-1849) was the missionary bishop to Indiana and Missouri before Indiana was made a separate diocese. The altar originally stood in the chapel of the downtown parish house. During World War II, it was moved into the old church building to serve as a tribute to servicemen. A list of thirty-four men hung on the wall beside it.    
 
We have some issues to resolve with regard to the placement of the altar. Because of the reredos and the location of the tower door, the logical spot (centered on east wall) may not be the best place to orient the altar. The rector and the property committee will have to consider the options.

There were some other gifts from St. Paul’s as well which may help define the space.  We have received 10 chapel chairs with kneelers, a credence table, a prie-dieu (a fancy kneeler) and possibly, if we want it, another font. 

Below is a picture of the altar as it was situated at St. Paul’s in the new church. I am excited about having this historic altar in our church as a way of preserving some diocesan history, besides enhancing our spiritual space. I also have to admit to a slightly devilish thought of the memory of these famous ’low-church’ bishops residing in perpetuity and close proximity to Our Lady.

If you were present on the Sunday in November when Fr. Honderich and the Cornerstone Campaign Committee gave a progress report to the parish, Fr. Honderich also told parish about the gift of the Bishop Talbott altar and rederos (ecclesiastical architectural term for a back panel behind an altar) plus
chapel chairs which have been given to All Saints by St. Paul's Church. The altar and reredos are treasured historic gifts to us, as the original
Cathedral of this Diocese.

The Bishop Talbott altar did not fit into the new design of their Sanctuary; St. Paul's  thought of All Saints and contacted us months ago to see if we wanted the altar and panel, along with chapel chairs. Fr. Honderich will be sharing more of the altar's historic significance (as well as the reredos) in the upcoming newsletter. St. Paul's (which is moving back into their new Sanctuary in a week ) needed to have these items moved this month, so we accepted their gift.  St. Paul's generously paid the moving costs to All Saints.  I watched this Thursday afternoon as these pieces were moved
from a huge flat-bed truck out on Central Ave into the Sanctuary. It took eight men to move the pieces from the truck and into the church—it was not a task for the 'faint of heart or small of muscle' I will testify to that.

The altar itself is terra cotta and is crated in several boxes weighing about 800 pounds. The reredos is also crated and is against the wall under the windows in the Mary Chapel.

We will have to live with the crates in the Mary Chapel for some time until a careful design is developed. This means that the Chapel of St. Mary will be 'out of commission' for the foreseeable future.

The statue of Mary as well as the votive candles and prayer desk have been moved to the rear of the nave in the niche to the left of the choir stairs. If you were here in 2002, when the Sacristy underwent renovation,  the statue was placed temporarily in that same niche during the '02 renovation as many items had to be moved out from the old Sacristy during construction.

Ultimately St. Mary won't be  "wandering around" anymore, and we will once again have a beautiful "Lady Chapel" in the style of many Episcopal and Anglican cathedrals and another altar at which Mass can be celebrated in conjunction with the Chapel of St. Michael. My deepest thanks to Fr. Rich Winters, rector of St. Paul's, and to Marge Olsen, Parish Administrator and Outreach Liaison for their communications and friendship with us, as well as their outreach to us in the past couple of years.  

I would remind people that our Cornerstone Campaign began with a challenge grant to us from St. Paul's for that purpose.

— Fr. Steve

And new pages have been added to the website.

Under the Worship tab is a new section labelled Feasts & Seasons. This section will provide insight into the various feasts and seasons of the Episcopal church throughout the year.

Under the Education tab we have added information to the Sunday School page.

Under the History tab we have added a few photos and descriptions about All Saints. Thanks to Gordon Chastain and Tim Jensen for text and descriptions.