History of St. James' Episcopal Church, Eureka
Springs, Arkansas
The congregation of St. James' Church was the first church
congregation to be organized in Eureka Springs -- just two years after
the town of Eureka Springs was incorporated in 1883. Organization
occurred through the efforts of the Reverend J. J. Vaulx of
Fayetteville, Arkansas, who held
services once a month for several years. During this period, a
frame
chapel
was built on Mountain Street. Regular organization was effected
on
September 15, 1887. The Rev. D. S. C. M. Potter, D. D., assumed
charge of St. James' on December 14, 1887.
In January, 1889, when the new brick schoolhouse was built,
St. James'
parish was presented with the old Cromer school building (the
present-day home for St. James' congregation). The building was
remodeled and became the permanent home of the St. James
congregation.
During this time the
city was at the height of prosperity and St. James' was a thriving
parish.
St. James' Church was formally consecrated on Holy Innocents Day in
1913.
The town declined in population after the first World War
and regular services at St. James' declined with it. With no
resident priest and no regular services, the Church deteriorated until
1946. In 1947, a handful of faithful Episcopalians, many of whom
had recently moved to Eureka Springs, gave their time, labor, and money
to recondition the dilapidated church. In 1948, the diocese
instituted a resident priest at St. James.
On August 24, 1962, a disastrous fire ravaged the Church,
completely destroying the pipe organ (the second oldest in Arkansas),
the rood screen, a portion of the building and most of the
furnishings.
Fortunately, the loss was partially covered by insurance. On
September
12 the congregation decided to rebuild the Church, meanwhile holding
services at a temporary
chapel at Lake Lucerne. On Easter Day, April 14, 1963, the first
service
was held in the renovated Church.
A timeline
traces our best sense of the folks who have served as the priest
leaders at St. James.
The following article appeared in a local paper in the 1980s
and was transcribed by Susan Walter, church secretary and local
librarian:
The Flashlight, May 1987
St. James is as old as
Eureka
Springs
By Mary Jean Sell, Editor
(Editor’s
Note: The majority of information for this article was provided by Ms.
Nita
Barner, member of St. James and Eureka Springs City Clerk. Her help on this
project and
others has been invaluable.)
St. James Episcopal Church in
Eureka Springs is one of several churches which has been meeting the
religious
needs of the community for more than a century. The small, white
church stands on
Highway 62B, almost hidden by large shade trees. Its
bright red entry doors put a splash of
color in the area.
The Episcopal Church in the United
States began as the Church of England
in the
American colonies. When the colonies
became a nation of their own, the church organized independently of the
English
church but retained a close alliance, becoming the first of what is now
a large
communion of independent, but related, churches – the Anglican
Communion.
Episcopal services began in Eureka
Springs in 1879. The congregation formally
organized as a part of the Diocese of Arkansas in 1883. They
met in a house on Mountain Street
which burned in 1888.
In 1890, the Eureka Springs
Development Company gave the Cromer
School
to the Episcopalians and they moved into the building they are still
using.
As has happened with many Eureka
buildings, fire took its toll of St. James. In
1963, a blaze started in the area around
the organ and destroyed much of the “east” end of the building.
In 1982, the building underwent
major renovation and some enlargement to emphasize the historic nature
of it as
a schoolhouse and a more ancient use of space for worship. The “undercroft” downstairs was remodeled for
use as activity rooms, Sunday school area, kitchen and storage.
Simplicity seems to be the watchword
for the St. James of today. The church
fixtures are quiet, dignified but old in their history and use.
In the vestibule, or narthex, there
is a bell rung before and after each service.
The baptismal font is at the
entrance of the building because baptism is an individual’s entrance
into the
church and the Family of God. This font
was made of stone from a local quarry and donated to the church in 1905.
To the immediate right of the
doorway into the sanctuary stands a gleaming chrome-silver pipe organ. It is one of the newer pieces of church
furniture. This organ replaced the 1877
Hook and Hastings organ
which was
destroyed in the 1963 fire. The original
organ had been purchased in St. Louis
for the church in 1912.
Above the doorway, inside the nave,
there is a wooden figure of a man riding a horse. This
is Santiago
(Saint James) as envisioned by an 18th century Spanish
artisan. The horse was carved in the 19th
century by a native Indian in Mexico
as a replacement for the original horse.
Since the Middle Ages, Spaniards
have claimed the relics of the Apostle James, venerated at the
cathedral at
Compostela. This was a rallying point
for them in their wars against the Moors (who had a relic of Mohammed
leading
them into battle), hence the Medieval costume of the apostle and the
horse.
The local church also has a
baptismal shell from Santiago de Compostela, as well as a shell and
sward,
symbols of the apostle, which can be seen in the sacristy.
For more detail, see the article in the New
Advent (Roman Catholic) Encyclopedia.
Walking down the center aisle,
toward the altar area, the visitor can hear the floorboards creak. The floor slopes away from the center on both
sides – support pillars in the undercroft kept the center at one level
while
the foundations at the sides settled, bowing the floor over the years.
As you stand looking at the altar,
to the right is the recessed area with kneeling bench and tall white
candles. The aumbry, a wall safe for
reservation of the
Blessed Sacrament, consecrated bread and wine, are kept from Sunday to
Sunday
for emergency or special needs. The
small door is locked.
On the doorplate is a pelican and
her brood. It is a symbol of Christ’s
sacrifice. According to legend, a
pelican will peck her own breast to nourish her brood in times of
famine and
drought.
To the left of the entrance of the
area is the sanctuary light, a candle kept burning, symbolizing the
presence of
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in the church. Above
the door to the aumbry area is a brass
cross which stood on a shelf behind the altar when the altar was
against the “east”
wall of the church. The cross was given
as a memorial gift in 1905.
The altar and lectern or podium are
on a raised wooden platform surrounded by a wooden railing. The area has been brought forward into the
church instead of keeping it against the wall.
The original church had a wooden
rail and arch across the sanctuary approximately even with the current
altar
table. When the church burned in 1963,
large stained glass windows in the wall behind the altar were destroyed.
Renovation plans call for the
installation of a “rose” window in the wall in the near future. Another wooden arch will be designed and built
for the altar area.
Against the wall now are two pews
and the Sedalia, the seats
for the
priest and his assistants during the liturgy. The
church has two of the carved wooden
chairs, one is behind the altar, and the other is downstairs.
Before the 1963 fire, the two
carved chairs were on either side of the altar.
When the bishop is present and
presiding at the liturgy, a canopy is generally constructed over this
chair to
emphasize his authority over the community.
The stone altar was carved from
rock in a local quarry by Don Underwood of Eureka Stone Company. He has said the new rock probably came from an
area not 100 feet from the area where the stone for the baptismal font
was
quarried. The new altar was blessed by
The Right Reverend William Wantland of Eau Claire,
Wisconsin July 3, 1983. The altar
has a relic of Elizabeth
Seton, the first American-born person officially named a saint in the
Roman
Church. She was raised as an Anglican
before associating with the Roman Church.
The sacristy room is outside the
sanctuary area and is not open to the public. All
the items used for the church services are
kept here. This is the room where the
priests
and their assistants prepare for services.
The undercroft to the building was
not closed in for many years after it was given to the church. The original use as a tethering place for
horses continued for some time. Until after World War II, the original
furnace
room had a dirt floor. The furnace room
was made into a kitchen area in 1963. The
new kitchen was added during the 1982 renovation.
The Church building was enlarged in 1983, when a larger
sacristy and an undercroft kitchen were added. The congregation
has
grown significantly in the past 20 years -- enough to support three
services on Sunday and a mid-week service.
The Rev. Edie Bird has
served as Vicar since 1999. St. James' provided space for The
Lane House (now known as Main Stage) outreach ministry
for troubled teens in Eureka Springs, in the parish house next door to
the
Church. After the Lane House (now also known as Main Stage) purchased a
property on Main Street in 2004, St. James reclaimed the Lane House
building for office and parish meeting space, renaming it the St.
James' House. As extensive renovation of the building progressed,
the church offices were opened there in December 2004.
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James' Home Page
