In Florence, St. James Church celebrates 100 years of ministry
Episcopal News Service. May 2, 2008 [050208-01]
Christina N. Caughlan, Staff at St. James in Florence, Italy
On April 23, 1908, the cornerstone was laid of what would become the sanctuary of St. James, la chiesa americana (or "American Church") in Florence, Italy. Last week, in friendly cooperation with the City of Florence and the U.S. Consulate, the parish hosted a series of events to commemorate its first 100 years of ministry in Via Rucellai.
The festivities culminated on Sunday, April 27 with the Centennial Rededication Ceremony and Holy Eucharist. In recognition of the role that St. James has played in the life of the broader community, the Gonfalone, heraldic flag of the City of Florence, arrived well before the service began, accompanied by the chiarine, gaily-clad traditional standard bearers and trumpets.
More than 350 parishioners and friends gathered to witness the proceedings, and the event drew considerable attention from the local media.
With the assistance of interpreter Timothy Chaplin, the Rev. Roger Featherston, St. James' rector, opened with introductions and thanks to the visiting clergy and civic dignitaries -- Gianni Biagi, representing the mayor of Florence; Valerio Valenti from the Prefect's Office; Francesco Tagliente, Questore (Chief of Police); and Nora Dempsey, Consul General.
The ceremony continued with comments from the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, bishop-in-charge of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe.
The Convocation is a jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church with parishes, missions and specialized ministries serving in eight countries of Europe and central Asia in collaboration with the English, Spanish, and Portuguese jurisdictions of the Anglican Communion.
"The one-hundredth anniversary of St. James' is a wonderful testimony to the enduring contribution of Anglicanism in Continental Europe," Whalon told Episcopal News Service. "It is an exciting moment, not only for St James, but also for the Convocation.
St. James' is the fourth member-parish of the Convocation to surpass the 100-year mark, said Whalon. "Our Church's original identity as a denomination found in the United States was supplanted in 1859, when the Church of the Holy Trinity, now Cathedral, became the first official 'congregation in foreign lands,' outside the United States," he said. "We have since become a truly international church, now serving Episcopalians in the US, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America."
Dempsey spoke for many in her address. "Florence is a beautiful city, and I feel honored to live here," she said. "Like many of my predecessors, Florence became that much more beautiful when it started to feel like home. And it started to feel like home when I found St. James."
Biagi remembered the important role that the parish played in Florence after the devastating 1966 flood, when the community helped to raise $425,000 in flood relief and then coordinated the distribution of the funds into weekly grants for families and businesses. He also thanked St. James for its ongoing service to the city, especially in the form of the Food Bank, which distributes free staple foods and clothing every Thursday, and the Interyouth dinner program, which serves as a point of reference for university students from the more than 40 American study abroad programs operating in Florence.
After the dignitaries were presented with a copy of the History of St. James, prayers were recited in a sampling of the languages represented in this international, multiethnic parish: English, Italian, Ibo language (spoken in parts of Nigeria), Philippine Tagalog, French and Spanish. The trumpets announced the departure of the Gonfalone, and a procession of Sunday school children led the congregation into the sanctuary to the strains of "This Little Light of Mine."
The celebration of Holy Eucharist was officiated by Whalon, with Featherston preaching. Assisting at the service were, with one exception, all of the living rectors of St. James, representing more than 40 years of clerical leadership: the Rev. John P. Tederstrom (rector from 1967-72); the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Lee Jr., former bishop of Western Michigan, (rector from 1973-1982); the Rev. Clement W. Welsh (interim rector from 1982-1983 and author of St. James Church: A History of the American Church in Florence); the Rev. Samuel Hartman (rector from 1983-1990); the Rev. Peter F. Casparian (rector from 1995-2004); and Featherston, (rector from 2005-present).
Also attending the ceremony were the Rev. Marshall Hunt and the Rev. Victoria Hunt from the Diocese of Massachusetts, supply priests at St. James in 2006.
The Rev. Canon Charles K. Robertson, canon to the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, represented the Presiding Bishop at the service. Robertson brought warm greetings from the Episcopal Church, as well as confirmation of the Presiding Bishop's intention to join St. James for the closing ceremony of its centennial year in April 2009. He also presented the parish with a Native American rendition of the Good Shepherd.
Whalon thanked Featherston for his brief but memorable tenure as rector, which ends on May 5, which was followed by a standing ovation from the congregation. Judith Jones, lay vicar for a mission church in the Diocese of Texas, described how she and her husband, Lewis, happened to be traveling though Florence during Centennial week, and how they were so impressed by the welcome they received at St. James that they intended to make a sacrificial gift to the parish's organ fund in thanksgiving.
The musical offerings during the service ranged from O Sing Unto the Lord (Henry Purcell), and Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven (W.K. Stanton) interpreted by the classical Chancel Choir and Merry Maidens, to contemporary gospel pieces offered by Nehemiah H. Brown and the Florence Gospel Choir, and Spirit of the Living God, directed by Lucrezia Balatri.
The celebrations lasted well into the afternoon, with fellowship, reminiscing and general merrymaking over a lunch catered by parish volunteers, topped off with gelato from Vivoli, Florence's most famous gelateria. To the delight of all present, members of the parish's large African community, in full festival regalia, formed a procession and wove through the gardens chanting and dancing to traditional drums.
Earlier in the week, the festivities commenced on Tuesday, April 22 with an informal open house to greet the many Americans who braved the all-time low dollar and traveled to Florence specifically to take part in the celebrations. A newly-released promotional DVD about St. James provided an audiovisual backdrop, and an in-depth tour of the church and grounds was led by Andrea Maggi, the architect who supervised the massive renovation project launched in 2000 and completed in 2004.
The next day, visitors were treated to a walking tour of Florence led by tour guide and parishioner Luciano Niccolai. That evening, some 150 people mingled in the rectory and garden for cocktails, and then proceeded into the sanctuary, transformed for the occasion into a magnificent banquet hall.
Guests enjoyed musical offerings by the Merry Maidens, a female a cappella choir specializing in Renaissance and Baroque madrigals. The event was marked by painstaking attention to detail, from the calligraphy of the place markers, floral arrangements (with colors chosen to match the stained glass windows) and classic and well-executed Tuscan fare, served by an elegant and discreet squadron of waiters.
The evening was graced by reflections and anecdotes delivered by Lee and Horace Gibson, co-founder of the American International School of Florence, pillar of the church community since 1963, and co-author (with the Rev. Clement Welsh) of "St. James Church: A History of the American Church in Florence officially unveiled for the occasion."
The next evening, out-of-towners, vestry and former vestry were invited to a reception at Palazzo Canevaro, better known as the U.S. Consulate -- a majestic and well-appointed venue overlooking the River Arno. Baroque oboist Sand Dalton, accompanied by St. James organist and pianist Riccardo Foti, provided the music; and Nora Dempsey, U.S. Consul General, graciously introduced the open-mike session, where former rectors and friends of St. James shared memories of the parish. Guests enjoyed an international array of finger foods, ranging from cantaloupe balls wrapped in prosciutto crudo to egg rolls.
Even as the parish bids farewell to the Featherstons on May 5, it looks forward in hope to its next hundred years of ministry, and to discerning how God intends to use this modest but -- in its own way -- remarkable church in a beautiful corner of God's kingdom.