St. John’s memories: Carpet and cushions, oh my!

This shows places where the marble has been patched. The communion rail originally was installed here.

David Morton remembers when wealthy parishioners’ limousines lined Quarrier Street on Sunday mornings, and their chauffeurs were allowed to gather in the church kitchen for coffee. He also recalls that those knobs on the ends of the choir pews had fleurs de lys atop them, but a priest whose vestments got caught on them demanded that the ornaments be removed. I didn’t arrive here until ’73, so I don’t have those recollections, but here are some things now long gone that I do remember.

The floor of the nave was covered with wall-to-wall mossy-green carpet, and every pew was covered with a plush, thick, darker green pad. Ah, the comfort of sitting in church, but imagine how the acoustics improved when those things were removed.

Several pews have also been eliminated, both in the front (to allow movement of the grand piano) and rear (to provide space for wheelchairs) of the nave. A uniquely designed set of pews once occupied the northeast corner of the nave, where the piano now rests, and faced south. 

Last I knew, those latter seats were stored in the dirt basement under the nave, but I suspect they’re no longer around. You have no doubt noticed that several of the longer pews were relocated to what was then known as the auditorium, with another pew now situated in the women’s choir room.

Both of our altars were against their respective east walls, as had been the custom everywhere, causing the celebrant to face the front of the altar with his back to the congregation when communion was offered. We still followed the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, with the principal Sunday service being Morning Prayer rather than Eucharist, though communion was offered at the 8 a.m. service and once a month at the later service.

The communion rail, aka altar rail, was at the front of the sanctuary, separating the sanctuary from the chancel. In order to receive communion, congregants went past the choir to get to the rail and then exited through the clergy vesting room to return to the nave. In earlier days, that door near the baptismal font was used for such an exit.

The auditorium, now named Hunter Hall after the late and great Frances Hunter, had an actual stage at its east end, complete with theatre-style maroon velvet curtains, flood lights that folded into the stage floor, and spotlights that still remain on the ceiling. The stage was used only for special events like our Madrigals or for extra seating for Manna Meal guests, so it wasn’t considered a great loss when the new Manna Meal kitchen’s walk-in cooler and freezer caused the stage’s removal.

And we had no elevator back then, but that’s another story!

This photo shows marks on the floor where a pew was removed in order for the grand piano to be moved to the center of the crossing.