Stories from the First Cathedral 45

The Guild House contains one of my favorite spaces in the First Cathedral complex and is called the Great Hall. Currently there is another church meeting in the Great Hall, which pays a monthly rent to the Cathedral. The Great Hall has serviced many people and events in the past 130 years. I will be discussing these outside community-friendly events in future letters. So it is appropriate for the Great Hall to host another denomination.

One of the amazing parts of the Great Hall is the collection of stained glass windows. "The Great hall contains two large side windows, both memorials. In the east window, the young boy Samuel holds a censer, and the motto quotes the words of his mother Hannah; "I have lent him unto the Lord." The effect is especially poignant for the window is in memory of three-year-old Herbert McArthur Smith, who was accidentally shot by his brother in "forbidden play" while their parents were away. (Above are three angel heads, all commemorating Theopold children). In the west window at the top there is a richly colored representation of John the Baptist, given in memory of James Lloyd Breck, with the appropriate words "The voice of one crying in the wilderness."" (The First Cathedral  by the Venerable Ben Scott and Mr Robert Neslund, 1987)

Next week I will write about the other stained glass windows in the Great Hall and the variety of art hung on the walls and people behind these beautiful images.