Emmanuel Episcopal Church

811 Cathedral Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

(410) 685-1130

emmanueldowntown.org

I recently learned that a church in the Mount Vernon neighborhood offers free live music and food at lunchtime on Wednesdays. The church is conveniently located across the street from my favorite coffee shop, Milk and Honey, and is just down the road from the Washington Monument. Food, music, and geographic proximity to work make the Emmanuel Episcopal Church a great place to spend Wednesday lunch breaks, as well as a convenient building to write about.

Unlike the other churches I’ve visited, I dedicated most of my time in this church to enjoying food and music instead of observing its architectural elements. Luckily, the church’s website offers a wealth of information on the latter topics, and it’s from this resource that I’ve appropriated most of my architectural material.

Aesthetically, the Emmanuel Church’s exterior is not especially distinctive. Its original structure was built in 1854 by Baltimore’s first registered architectural firm, Niernsee & Nielson. In 1912, Reverend Dr. Hugh Birckhead hired Woldemar Ritter of Boston’s Goddhue, Cram & Ferguson to renovate the building. Additionally, a German emigrant to Boston, Johann Kirchmayer, was commissioned to provide carvings for the buildings. The most interesting part of the church’s exterior is the Christmas Tower, which was built out of granite and white limestone, and dedicated in 1920. It features several sculpted figures, including a band of musicians, Mary holding the infant Jesus, and the three Magi. On either side of the doorway are two additional figures, one from the Hebrew Scriptures and one from the New Testament. The woodwork above the door is carved to depict Jesus holding a lamb, as well as the seal of Emmanuel and the words “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”  

The church’s interior is more impressive. Its star feature is the Great East Window, which was made by C.E. Kempe and Company, Ltd. and dedicated in 1915. The window features fifteen individuals who were chosen for their historical contributions to the Church. They were selected by Reverend Henry Washburn, a professor of ecclesiastical history at what used to be the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge Massachusetts. Additionally, the church features smaller stained glass windows, four of which were made by Tiffany and Company. 

Directly below the Great East Window is a reredos, a carved panel over the altar, which was designed and carved by the same artists who worked on the church’s exterior. Depictions of Christus Emmanuel flanked by Michael, Gabriel, and various angels, as well as additional figures from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament were carved out of Indiana limestone. The altar itself was designed by Henry Vaughan, who also designed the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

The rood hanging from the ceiling shows the crucified Christ with his mother and St. John. It was carved in Italy and dedicated in 1930.

On either side of the altar are additional rooms: the Peace Chapel and the Baptistery. The Peace Chapel, designed by Woldemar Ritter, was dedicated on November 11, 1920, marking the two-year anniversary of the end of World War I. Inside the chapel is a medallion window that depicts the Incarnation, the Atonement, and the Resurrection, as well as an oak triptych portraying Jesus breaking bread with his disciples. Underneath the triptych is an altar carved out of pink Tennessee marble. The Baptistery plays host to stained glass windows designed by John La Farge. They depict the baptism of Jesus, and below them kneels an angel holding a baptismal bowl carved by Daniel Chester French. French is renowned for his sculpture of Abraham Lincoln that sits in Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial.

Needless to say, the Emmanuel Episcopal Church is an alluring setting for a lunchtime meal and concert performance. The menu included paella with chicken and sausage; cold pasta with olives, vinegar, lemons and peas; ice tea; wine; and orange slices. It was the perfect summer’s meal. The concert was given by Lisa Perry, a soprano praised by the Washington Post for her “confident, penetrating account of lines,” and Jeremy Lyons, a guitarist studying under Manuel Barrueo at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. They played fourteen songs: Junto al Generalife, Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, Fandango, and Five Spanish Folk Songs. The music was so exquisite that I will go as far as to say that it was the single aspect of my Emmanuel Episcopal Church experience that made me return the next two Wednesdays.  

S/o to the Baltimore Architecture Foundation for the information on Niernsee & Nielson, and Wikipedia for various other things. 

First Unitarian Church of Baltimore

1 W Hamilton St

Baltimore, Maryland 21201

410.685.2330

www.firstunitarian.net

Today, I woke up and asked myself, “What’s the most patriotic thing I can think of?” The obvious answer was church architecture, so I got out of bed and Google-mapped my second church. Recognizing that most institutions are closed on the Fourth of July, I called three churches to see if they were open before setting off to the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore.

The church stands a block or two south of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. In its vicinity are various bus stops, storefronts, and small franchise buildings that begin to resemble twenty-first century Baltimore more than historic Mount Vernon Place. However, the Unitarian church stands as a benchmark of Baltimore history, and like the Methodist Church, is listed on the National Historic Register. 

The church is a dome-topped cube with wall lengths of 53 feet and 6 inches, the same dimension as the dome’s diameter. Though you can’t see the dome in these photos, the cubic rigidity of the building is glaringly apparent. Built in 1818 by Maximilian Godefroy, it follows the proportional canons of nineteenth century neoclassicism. At the same time, the building manifests a bold departure from typical examples of neoclassicism by boasting a relatively plain exterior. The structure’s main visible element, the cube, is emphasized by its lack of ornamentation. Its decoration is limited to a portico and a structural element that juts out approximately two-thirds of the way up, as well as at its top. Incorporating four, arch-supporting columns, the portico bears a pediment. Standing proudly in the middle of the pediment is a terra cotta relief sculpture known as the Angel of Truth, which was designed by Antonio Capellano.

Considering its function as a Unitarian Universalist church, the commission of a neoclassical design was appropriate for this building. Neoclassicism intrinsically recalls traditions of democracy and universality in classical buildings such as the Pantheon, which served as a temple to all of the gods. By choosing this style instead of neo-Gothicism, the church builders forewent a traditionally Christian symbol for one that was more equivocal.

I entered the church through its office entrance, which was donated in 1879 by Enoch Pratt, a Baltimore philanthropist for whom the Enoch Pratt library, located in the church’s vicinity, was named after. In fact, the building is made from bricks taken from townhouses that were demolished to make room for the library. When I rang the doorbell, a young boy greeted me, and I asked if I could come in to take a look around. His face said that the answer was no (I found out later that though I had called earlier, the church was in fact closed for the holiday), but he was too polite to say so and welcomed me inside. He introduced me to an older man who told me that the church offered docent-led tours every first and third Sunday of the month. Luckily for me the boy chimed in that Valerie, one of the docents, was there and that she could tell me about the church. I gratefully followed him into the church, where Valerie was talking to some other guests. As she finished up her conversation, I took in the church’s interior.

From the inside, the church’s dome seems nonexistent. I later found out on my tour that a corbelled barrel vault had been constructed below the dome in the late 1800’s because the acoustics had been terrible under the original structure. In addition to the barrel vault, several other features were added in the late nineteenth century, including a Niemann organ, a Tiffany mosaic, and six Tiffany stained glass windows. Though the mosaic presumably depicts a scene of the Last Supper, the windows make no allusions to any religious iconography, and instead depict architectural elements that can be found in the church, such as columns. Underneath the mosaic are circular symbols representing various religions. Also of interest to me were the three banners that hung in the church, representing support of LGBT individuals, connectivity with the Earth and the universe, and the church’s openness to all people.

Though my decision to visit this particular church was entirely arbitrary, it seems like a fitting choice given today’s role as a commemoration of the Declaration of Independence. The church stands as a tribute to truth and universality, visually communicating the idea penned in the 1776 document that all men are created equal. Happy Independence Day!