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.