All Saints' Church

History

	Last updated June 5, 2006, morning. We plan to update this history - little by little - as time permits. Organization will follow, also as time permits.
	All Saints was named a mission in 1904 and became a parish in 1914. The first regular service was held in the current church building upon its completion on August 8, 1920. The church design was begun in 1916 by architect Ralph Adams Cram. St. Mary the Virgin Church in Iffley, Oxfordshire, England was a major influence on the design. The key person in the creation of the church was Mary Lyon Cheney Schofield. Mrs. Schofield, a leader in the town, the state, and the nation, donated the land and financed the original buildings on the east side of Concord Street – e.g., church, parish house, and rectory. Across the street from the original buildings is Reynolds Hall erected in 1985. The original parish house was renovated and enlarged in 1995. Besides housing All Saints' activities, both Reynolds Hall and the Old Parish House are used extensively by community organizations. Among the artistically important adornments at All Saints are the carvings in English Oak by world-renowned carver, John Kirchmayer. The carvings include the Adoration Reredos and the St. Ambrose newel post, which is in the narthex. An old Flemish tapestry of the early XVII century is in the Baptistry. Throughout the church are stained glass windows worked in accordance with the principles of the XIII century, by Charles Connick Studios of Boston. Of special note is the carillon of bells donated in 1923 in memory of Charles P. Cheney. There are twelve bells ranging in weight from 140 pounds to 1568 pounds. The largest is named Christopher because of the saint's association with travel, especially over water, and because Mr. Cheney, first husband of Mary, loved the water. From a book review at: http://www.umass.edu/umpress/spr_05/shandtucci.html Ralph Adams Cram: An Architect’s Four Quests—Medieval, Modernist, American, Ecumenical "With his partner Bertram Goodhue, Cram won a number of important commissions, beginning with the West Point competition in 1903. Although an increasingly bitter rivalry with Goodhue would lead to the dissolution of their partnership in 1912, Cram had already begun to strike out on his own. Supervising architect at Princeton, consulting architect at Wellesley, and head of the MIT School of Architecture, he would also design most of New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the campus of Rice University, as well as important church and collegiate structures throughout the country. By the 1920s Cram had become a household name, even appearing on the cover of Time magazine."