Holy Faith Of Santa Fe - Hardcover

Stanford Lehmberg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890689122 ISBN 13: 9781890689124

Publisher: LPD Press, 2004

Synopsis

The history of the Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe is of special interest for several reasons. It is the oldest Episcopal church, and one of the oldest of any Protestant denomination, in New Mexico. Its early leaders, men like Governor L. Bradford Prince, Senator Thomas B. Catron, and Senator Bronson M. Cutting, were prominent in government and politics; their careers linked church and state in early twentieth century Santa Fe. Some of its buildings were designed by the greatest architect of the Santa Fe style, John Gaw Meem, who, together with his wife Faith, was a loyal parishioner for many decades. Art work in the church includes a reredos by the well-known artist Gustave Baumann. The church’s pipe organ is the largest in northern New Mexico and the music program has long-standing connections with the Santa Fe Opera. The earlier chapters of the Holy Faith history are thus part of the political and artistic history of Santa Fe and indeed New Mexico and the Southwest. The life of the parish during the second half of the twentieth century is important for different reasons. Holy Faith provides a fascinating case study of problems affecting the Episcopal church throughout the United States during these years. It was subject to more serious divisions of opinion than most parishes and was heavily influenced by conservatives who deplored such actions as the ordination of women and Prayer Book revision. It disapproved of social action policies of the national church and withdrew its financial support from the national body. But it was exceptionally generous in its outreach and made significant grants to charitable organizations in the Santa Fe community, the United States, and throughout the world. After a period of controversy and loss of members it ended the century at a new high point and seemed poised to continue its growth and service. The present study is based on the parish archives, which are unusually complete, and on interviews with long-time parishioners who have shared their memories of special events and controversies. It attempts to present an account which is full but fair and judicious in presenting different points of view. It includes a number of historical photographs as well as illustrations depicting the church’s present buildings and art works.

About this title

About the Author

Prior to his retirement from active teaching Stanford Lehmberg was Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, where he also served as chair of the History Department. Earlier he taught at the University of Texas in Austin. He is the author of eight books, most of which are studies of England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These include The Reformation Parliament, 1529-1536 (1970), The Later Parliament of Henry VIII (1977), The Reformation of Cathedrals (1988), Cathedrals Under Siege (1996), a textbook, The Peoples of the British Isles, from Prehistoric Times to 1688 (2nd. ed., 2001), and a history of The University of Minnesota, 1945-2000 (2001). He has also helped edit several encyclopedias and written dozens of articles and hundreds of reviews. Twice a Guggenheim Fellow, he holds the Ph.D. and Litt.D. from Cambridge University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London and a former member of the board of the American Historical Association and the North American Conference on British Studies. A church musician as well as a historian, he served as organist and choirmaster at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in St, Paul for twenty-eight years, during which time services sung by his choir were broadcast on American Public Radio and the B.B.C. After some years of dividing their time between Minnesota and New Mexico, he and his wife Phyllis have been full-time residents of Santa Fe and communicants of the Church of the Holy Faith since 1998.

Edition details

• Publisher: LPD Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1890689122
• ISBN 13: 9781890689124
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 219