Historic St. James Episcopal Church

[Mousetoescamper]

The present St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was built in 1820, but was originally created in 1744 as an extension of the Church of England in the “New World.”





A monthly Saturday Mass offers a broad array of live music featuring favorite artists from the past, contemporary artists and contemplative themes while being integrated into traditional Episcopal liturgy. A jazz quartet plays music from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme album at a Saturday music Mass.


Program cover from a Saturday Mass requiem for Leonard Cohen.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This is one incredibly beautiful church, my dear Mousetoescamper! Thank you for these photos.

Every single one is a masterpiece of color and texture and composition.

We truly need beauty like this in our lives, to help lift us out of the mundane everyday life we all live.

[Mousetoescamper]

2. Entering such spaces can alter one's frame of reference

Like the great cathedrals, the building was designed to inspire awe and, as you indicated, lift us out of the mundane. No deity or belief in such is required for that to occur.

I'm not a believer but I enjoy the music and pageantry of the Saturday Mass. St. James must be among the most progressive Christian churches in the nation. Even an atheist can feel at home there.

Thanks, Peggy.

[Old Crank]

3. Very nice

Are they lighting the insides?

My trouble here, Europe, is the lighting can be very obtrusive when it isn't just the light from the windows.
Plus most walls are grey stone.....

[Mousetoescamper]

4. The windows are interiorly lighted and fixtures are tucked away throughout the sanctuary

I don't find the lighting at all obtrusive. Mature trees and the surrounding buildings, most of them erected since the church was built 200 years ago, keep the windows in shade. The lighted windows are also quite beautiful when viewed from the street at night.

Thanks!