St Mary’s Episcopal Church

St. Mary’s is an incredible church! My husband and I spent months looking for a church where we could get married that combined a few very important things: namely a theology and social acceptence that we could agree upon, unique aesthetic beauty, and a traditional marriage ceremony that would satisfy the Presbyterians on my side of the family and the Catholics on his. We went to A LOT of churches on Sundays to get a feel for their services and what they believe in but none spoke to us like St. Mary’s. Admittedly, it was initially the church’s rich history and unique, old-​world feel that drew us, but it was the total acceptence and wide variety of congregants that we encountered at service that made us sure that this was the church for us.
What we found in the congregation was a mix of wealthy nuclear families, the homeless looking for salvation on a Sunday, gay couples, singles old and young; you name it and it was present. This is what I have always looked for in a church since it really shows how welcoming the congregation must be that you would see people from such diverse backgrounds comfortable and in attendence.
The church itself is incredible and was perfect for our evening wedding in December. The dark burgundy and red colors, wrought iron gates, stained glass, and dark wood accents were a perfect backdrop for our vows.
We opted for a full mass and a very traditional ceremony. The thing to know about the Episcopal church is that marriage is a rite and thus follows a set service with no alterations allowed (save your choices of biblical and Gospel passages). It is beautiful and traditional and I thought it was the perfect way to start our marriage.
I would recommend this church to anyone looking for a welcoming, diverse congregation in an urban setting with a traditional service but socially aware and accepting goals. This is a beautiful place to be married and any cost you incur goes toward keeping up the beautiful building and supporting the growth of the community outreach of the church. Think of it as a charitable donation going to a truly great cause. Love it!

So I have to have a moment of honesty here and let the world know that this is more of a review of the space, rather than the Jesus worshipping aspect of the building. I have not attended any services here, but I did recently attend one of the most beautiful weddings here and was very impressed. Of course with that said, they did celebrate a full mass during the ceremony, so I guess maybe I have taken part in the worship aspect… well either way, here are my thoughts and impressions.
First of all, a downtown location with plenty of parking! There is one star right there. Second of all, beautiful space! When you enter this building you are first in a nice and spacious breezeway that is all wood. You then carry on into the chapel, which is all wood (you should be seeing the trend here). Gorgeous beam work and what I’m sure would be stunning stain glass during the day (I was at an evening wedding) towered above me. I’ll be completely honest, I don’t know the age of the actual building, but it gave off this sense of history and age that made me feel like I was in something quite special. I also liked the fact that we were sat in wood chairs rather than pews. I am not a fan of pews unless they have been repurposed as great booth seats or something. The chairs allowed us to sit in our own space and leave that sense of «I can’t get out of here until everyone else leaves» feeling behind. I have to admit, I loved during the ceremony when we all stood and then sat, listening to all of the old chairs creak and crack as they welcomed our derrieres back into their seats.
The entire space was open and very clean. With all of that wood I’m sure they spend hours every week dusting to make certain their space stays as beautiful as I saw it. Even with the wonderful sense of age that is presented here, all of the modern amenities have been put into place. I know this because I spotted the thermostat on a pillar next to the end of the row I was seated in. The service also utilized microphones; while this may seem obvious to us today, I have to say that I could not find a speaker out in the open. Kudos for that as I hate walking into spaces and then being sad when I’m greeted by giant black boxes hanging off of walls, which ruin the aesthetics. And finally the acoustics are superb, or at least to this untrained ear. Our lovely bride had selected to use live stings and a french horn for the music, which filled the space wonderfully well. Of course the wedding was perfect for the perfect couple and absolutely gorgeous, I cried a bit. I know though that environment is oh so very important, and what a great environment it was.

St. Mary’s is a beautiful church just celebrating their 151^st anniversary. Spanning three centuries, there’s A LOT of history in this place, including a ghost. Yes ladies and gentlemen, the ghost of Rev’d Henry David Jardine (whom the building was built in honor for) still roams the halls of this historic building – dragging his chains and being seen near the marble altar. Spooky.
Though who wouldn’t want to spend eternity in this beautiful church with it’s intricate stain glass windows. enormous and powerful organ, and a gorgeous marble alter. No expense was spared when constructing this church and it’s quite noticeable. My only complaint is, they must be using the same heating unit from the beginning, because we were freezing the entire night.
Definitely go on a sunny day when the light filters through the stain glass, illuminating every artistic detail (I can’t convey how amazing these are). There are also minute details to notice, such as the small cross in the wooden beams on the left side of the arc (from the original church) and the circular stain glass on the top left (the first one) that’s also from the original church.