 Virtual Tour of Christ Church We are pleased to offer this virtual historic tour of the beautiful and deeply spiritual interior and exterior of Christ Church. As you are taking the tour, please take time to click on the highlighted links to view the stained glass windows or other pictures associated with the text. Once you have viewed these pictures, please click your browser's "Back" button to return to the tour. INTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH The subject matter of the windows in the Chapel was determined at the time the building was built and the windows were installed, some at that time and some later as gifts and memorials. The windows are all treatments of Old Testament subjects. The large window facing south is a Jesse Tree, which is a traditional way of showing Christ's genealogy in the House of David. At the root is Jesse, father of David, and in the round window at the top is Mary, holding the infant Jesus. Solomon is there, to the left of David, along with all of the generations listed in the gospels of Matthew and Luke (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3). On the west wall is the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the four rivers, and all manner of animals and plants. Next to this window is a new addition, a beautiful tapestry, depicting Moses and the Israelites, given to the church by member Armine Isbirian. The three windows on the east wall are Old Testament prophets. The first shows the willing sacrifice of Abraham of his beloved son Isaac. The next is Moses and the brass snake, which was a sign from God that He was with those who believed in Him. The third is Elijah's fiery ascent into Heaven and Elisha, who was able to see Elijah being taken up. The bronze cross, covered with flowers which are symbols of Christ's passion, is a memorial to Lydia Phinny, who devoted her life to the care of others in the parish and in the town of Poughkeepsie. The chapel itself is dedicated to St. Hugh of Lincoln, who was a Bishop in England during the 12th century. It was created in the mid-1950s at the bequest of Canon George Kinkead, whose family had long been members of the parish and who had grown up in the church. The windows in the ambulatory consist of seven angels who "stand in the presence of God". The four below have names: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael and St. Uriel. The three nameless ones above are holding golden orbs on which are the Latin inscriptions for Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The cherub from Raphael over the door was given in memory of little Virginia Carpenter, who died when she was only four years old in 1882. The magnificent chancel window was given, by their children, in memory of two men who came to Poughkeepsie in 1810 as young Quaker boys and eventually became bishops in the Episcopal Church, Alonzo and Horatio Potter. The sons of Alonzo were also clergymen. Henry Codman Potter became Bishop of New York, and his brother Dr. Eliphalet Potter served here as rector for a short time in 1900. His memorial is on the wall in the ambulatory. The rose window at the top behind the altar is Christ in Majesty, and the three lancets show St. James, Christ the Good Shepherd, and St. John. When this, the third, church was planned, Mr. Albert Tower had promised to make up any deficit of money which the parish could not raise for construction costs, and his original contribution was half of the anticipated total as well. Unfortunately, Mr. Tower died before he could fulfill his promise, and the church was left with a large debt and mortgage. Everyone contributed to the cause. For three years a group of little girls called The King's Daughters, under the direction of Edith Hamilton, sewed, cooked, gave plays, and held a fair to raise money. They earned enough to pay for the Magnificat window, the credence table, and the little window in the peak of the west wall called "the jeweled cross". The lectern was given to the church and was built by the family of Charles Crooke. The pulpit was given in 1906 at Easter by Mrs. James W. Hinckley. The altar and altar rail were gifts by Allendorf Schoonmaker in memory of his parents. The sanctuary light was installed in 1965 by Dr. Rhys Williams in memory of his mother. The processional cross was given by David Smith in memory of his first wife. The windows here, and the one just outside it, are all devoted to music, the hymns or canticles found in Morning and Evening Prayer. The Magnificat, "My soul doth magnify the Lord" (Luke 1:46), comes from Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth after she learned she was to be the mother of Christ and while Elizabeth was also pregnant with John the Baptist. In front of this window is a shrine to Mary, the Virgin of Guadalupe, an important symbol of worship for the Iglesia La Virgen de Guadalupe congregation. The opposite window on the west wall shows Zachariah, the Father of John, who had been told in a vision that his name would be John (Luke 1:68). The Benedictus in Morning Prayer is his song of thanksgiving, "Blessed by the Lord God of Israel". The window on the east wall is the Nunc Dimittis from Evening Prayer. When Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to the temple, they met there an old man named Simeon who had been promised that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. He recognized the infant Christ and took him in his arms saying, "Lord, now lettest thy servant depart in peace" (Luke 2:29). The other woman pictured is the elderly Anna, a widow who spent her days in the temple and who told the people of Jerusalem what she had witnessed. The large north window is the Te Deum from Morning Prayer, written by a Yugoslavian bishop around 400 A.D., "When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers". The rose above is Christ in Glory, flanked by angels, and the three lancets show the saints in Heaven. On the right are twelve Old Testament figures, on the left twelve New Testament figures, and in the center nine early Christians. Paintings and picture windows were a way of teaching the Bible before reading was widespread, so each person is identified by a symbol characteristic of that person. The picture behind the organ shows Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar because they would not worship his golden idol (Daniel 3:28). Although the fire was so hot it burned to death the soldiers who threw them in, the three were visited by the angel of the Lord and were unharmed. The Benedicite, "Bless ye the Lord", was their song, and on seeing them safe Nebuchadnezzar admitted that their God was greater than his. The marble memorial to Dr. John Reed, who was rector for thirty-five years in the early part of the 19th century, hung originally in the second Christ Church building on Market Street. The triangle windows overhead were installed during Dr. Cummin's time. They are another example of symbols expressing ideas. There are six here and two farther front. In each window, an angel is holding a shield, and on each shield one aspect of Christ's Passion is expressed: the nails driven into His hands and feet, the scourges used to whip him, the dice rolled by the Roman soldiers for his cloak, a ladder with a crossed spear and reed with vinegar sponge, the cock that crowed at dawn, and the pillar that symbolizes His trial and condemnation before Pontius Pilate. The windows up front show a crown of thorns and the empty cross. The five windows on the north wall are all events in Christ's early ministry. The furthest on the left is Christ with the children when he said, "of such is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Luke 18:15-17). The next shows him calling Lazarus from the tomb as a sign of God's power within Himself (John 11:1-44). The middle window of this set is the Transfiguration. Christ took James, John and Peter to the top of a high mountain. There they saw Moses and Elijah appear beside Jesus. Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Hear Ye Him" (Matthew 17:1-8). When the God-nature of Christ is represented in a picture, His whole figure is usually surrounded by an aureole of radiating light. The fourth picture of the set shows another miracle of Christ's, restoring to life the 12 year old daughter of Jairus, the president of the synagogue (Matthew 9:18-26). The fifth window is of the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ set forth to his disciples the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and all the principles of the Christian ethic. "Blessed are they that hear the word and keep it" (Matthew 5 - 7). The small windows on the south wall are pictures of the traditional Fathers of the early church. Each one has his own symbol and a related creature beside him. Toward the front is St. Ambrose, who was Bishop of Milan in the 4th century, shown with a boy holding a large book. The next is St. Jerome, also with a book and a lion, who translated the whole Bible from various sources into the Latin Vulgate. The next is St. Augustine of Hippo in North Africa, who was a bishop in the 4th and 5th centuries. The last window depicts St. Gregory, pope in the 6th century, shown with book and quill and an ox at his feet. The large west window was given by Mr. Albert Tower and dedicated by his sons to the memory of their parents. It is a good example of designs characteristic of the 19th century. It represents seven major events in Christ's life. The depictions read from the bottom of the window up. At the lower left is the Annunciation and above it the Nativity. In the center lancet the bottom picture shows Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, the middle one shows Him bearing His cross to Calvary, and the top shows the Crucifixion. At the lower right is the Resurrection and above it the Ascension. The use of a Baptistry separated from the main body of the church dates from an earlier time when Baptism was a more private affair. There was a change in the liturgy and Baptism was again seen as the whole church welcoming newcomers. The font was moved out of its private corner (which now houses Christ Church's columbarium) to a place near the entry of the Church where it serves as a reminder to all worshipers of their own baptism. The baptismal font was purchased by the Christ Church women in 1845 for the second Christ Church building on Market and Church Streets and brought to the new building in 1888. The small windows surrounding the altar in the Baptistry show Paul, Peter, Philip and John the Baptist from the New Testament, and Aaron, Moses and Noah, Patriarchs of the Old Testament. They are considered types of Christ, each exemplifying a different aspect of his message. As we go through the vestibule you will see windows portraying the four Evangelists. Matthew, the younger one, and Mark, an elderly man, were given by the Sunday School. Opposite them are Luke, on the south side with the ox which is his symbol, and John, with the chalice and the eagle. THE EXTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH In 1828 the Church bought all the land from Academy Street to South Hamilton Street. The village was to the north, between the Church and Main Street and beyond, and it was generally open land. Dr. John Reed, the rector who did so much to build the parish, personally laid out part of the plan as a burial ground, planted trees and laid out walks. It is fitting that his monument still stands, the farthest one in the northwest corner. Some graves remain along this side of the property, but when the church was built many of them were carefully removed to a special part of Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. At the same time, the graves that remained around the second church on Church and Market Streets were also placed in the cemetery. The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1887, behind the buttress, and in it were placed a Bible, Prayer Book and Hymnal, newspapers and coins of the day, and other significant papers. When the Market Street church was razed in 1892 the old coins and silver plate that had been in that cornerstone were placed in the new one. In 1889 the Parish House was built as a memorial to the Davies family, long benefactors of the parish. This free-standing building was later remodeled and connected to the church to form what is now the administrative offices and community room of Christ Church, where the choir and various community groups meet. At the time of the remodeling, a new Parish House was built but burned down in May of 1982. The Rectory was built in 1903, another gift of the Tower family, and the congregation had the cloister built, connecting the rectory to the church. This building is now the site of the current Parish House, where many of the church's education classes and committees meet. Also in 1889, Albert Tower, who had already contributed half of the building costs and had promised more if necessary, gave the tower as a personal gift. There never has been a bell in it, but part of the way up there was a platform where the boys' choir sang, especially on Christmas morning. Some years after his death, the vestry placed a carved stone on the tower at the front dedicating it as a memorial to its donor. The Christ In 1873 Carroll Street was cut through and the strip of land divided into building lots. By 1888, the building lots had all been sold and the remaining land as it is today became known as Christ Church Square. Christ Church Tower Restoration The
first step toward restoring the tower and steeple at
Christ Episcopal Church will begin on Thursday, April 18
and Friday, April 19. Mr. Keith Blades, a stone
restoration expert from Toronto, (Click on the images below for a larger view, and use your browser's "Back" button to return to this page).
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