Some Cathedral History The original dream of a great cathedral in Spokane came to The Right Reverend Edward Makin Cross, S.T.D., in 1924, shortly after he arrived to be the new missionary bishop. Together with Harold C. Whitehouse, a young architect in partnership with Ernest V. Price in what was to become the nationally known architectural firm of Whitehouse and Price, the Bishop began to plan for a great gothic cathedral atop the hill. The dream became reality within the lifetime of Bishop Cross, the only time known that a major cathedral has been completed within the lifetime of the founding bishop. St. John’s Cathedral is the Cathedral Church of the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, which includes all the Episcopal churches in the state of Washington east of the Cascade Mountains and in the state of Idaho north of the Salmon River.
Construction of the Cathedral began in November of 1925. The nave, from the west end eastward through the crossing, was completed in four years. The exterior sandstone was quarried and cut at Walker-Wilkeson in the Tacoma, Washington area. The inside sandstone was from Boise, Idaho. Temporary wooden walls filled the openings from the crossing into the chancel and transepts, and a temporary ceiling covered the crossing. The first service was held October 20, 1929.
Three congregations joined to form the congregation of the new Cathedral, the sale of their properties providing some of the funds for construction: All Saints Cathedral, which stood at the corner of Jefferson Street and First Avenue; St. James’ Church at Grand Boulevard and 25th Avenue; and St. Peter’s Church at Denver and Newark. Many other gifts were received from friends in Spokane and elsewhere, especially from St. Paul, Minnesota, where Bishop Cross had served as Rector of the Church of St. John the Evangelist.
Following World War II plans were undertaken to push construction eastward. Work was begun in 1948 and completed in 1952. As the construction of this second unit, the choir and sanctuary east of the crossing, neared completion, George Frederick Jewett, one of the parishioners, became aware of the exceptional group of artisans working on the building and the excellent working relationship with the stone quarry. He felt it would be impossible to duplicate these conditions in the future and therefore offered funds to build the transepts and tower. Meanwhile, Bishop Cross had retired. Mr. Jewett proposed that the tower be named Bishop Cross Tower in thanksgiving for the Bishop’s original vision, and for the constant shepherding which was to bring the vision to fulfillment.
The interior furnishings, pews, choir stalls, pulpit, lectern, the cathedra (seat of the Bishop), and the Dean’s stall were set in place in 1957. All Saints Chapel and the south transept were completed in 1960. The organ was installed in 1961. The parish house was built in 1962, and named Jewett House in memory of Mr. Jewett. The carillon was installed in Bishop Cross Tower in 1971.
A capital funds campaign on the occasion of the Cathedral’s fiftieth anniversary in 1979 provided for the portable central holy table, the installation of the two great transept windows, embroidered hangings beneath those windows crafted by needleworkers from all over our Diocese, and the Archives Room to preserve and display the Cathedral’s history.
But a Cathedral is never really completed. The tangible building may be finished, but that is only the beginning. A Cathedral goes on accumulating the prayers and worship, the joys and sorrows, the history and the very lives, of generation after generation of God’s people, for longer than nearly any other tangible creation of the hands of man. Because a Cathedral is forever! |
