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22 THE LIVING CHURCH February 3, 2013
the laying of the cathedrals corner-
stone, the primary activities of the
Laymens Club have been in publish-
ing and fundraising for the needs of
the cathedral. The clubs Guide to the
Cathedral Church, first published in
1920, went through 17 editions by
1965, and provided a major source ofincome for building projects
through-
out the first half of the 20th century.
The clubs other activities have
been varied and influential, including
donations to begin the cathedrals
homeless shelter and soup kitchen;
commissioning musical compositions
for cathedral celebrations;
donations for sculpture, con-
struction, roof repair, and archi-
tectural studies; and sponsor-
ing exhibitions about the
history of the cathedral. One of
the most enduring and recog-
nizable projects adopted by the
This attractive new book by Fran-cis Sypher is the most recent
inhis series of insightful histories of
parishes and institutions of the Epis-
copal Diocese of New York. Follow-
ing his 2010 bicentennial history of
St. Jamess Church, Madison Avenue,
and the surprisingly wonderful St.Agnes Chapel of the Parish of
Trinity
Church in the City of New York
(2002), this yearsStrangers and Pil-
grims sets a new stan-
dard for dedicated his-
torical work on an
organization within a
larger parochial framework.
A major component of Syphers
earlier work has been the careful sit-
uation of Episcopal Church life within
the history of neighborhoods and
urban social change. In this case, he
charts the activities of the Laymens
Club of the Cathedral of St. John theDivine through its first
century (1908-
2008) with a sensitive attention to the
contributions of the world-famous
cathedral to life in the Diocese of
New York and the Upper West Side of
Manhattan.
From its foundation 16 years after
Human Buttresses at St. Johns
Strangers and Pilgrims
A Centennial History of the Laymens Clubof the Cathedral Church
of Saint John the DivineBy Francis J. Sypher, Jr. Caravan Books.
Pp. 169. $35, cloth
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2/2February 3, 2013 THE LIVING CHURCH 23
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Laymens Club is the Pilgrims Pave-
ment of bronze medallions embed-
ded in the central nave, each repre-
senting major destinations of
Christian pilgrimage.Throughout the book, Sypher
shares a wealth of archival material
with readers, including historical pho-
tographs and designs. One of the
treasures of the book is Appendix B,
with its reproduction of the full text
of a 51-stanza poem by Laymens Club
president Edward Hagaman Hall
(1858-1936). The poem is a joy to read
from start to finish, but a few lines
give a good taste of its tone:
Thus, from Manhattan Isle
the waves He rolled;
Poured out the Palisades
in Gothic mould;
Brought down from Adirondacks
cloud-wrapped sides
The stately Northern stream
to greet the tides;
Made high the great Cathedrals
future seat;
Spread out the eastward plain
before its feet;
Bedecked the scene with grass,
and flower, and wood;
And, pausing in His work,
beheld it good.
In addition to gems like this,
Strangers and Pilgrims includes a
constellation of names prominent in
the life of the cathedral and the Epis-
copal Church during the century in
review: Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
James Pike, William Thomas Man-
ning, Horace W.B. Donegan, Ralph
Adams Cram, Edward Nason West,
Paul Moore, James Parks Morton,
and Madeleine LEngle among them.
Its great strength, however, is in atten-
tion to the ardent Laymens Club sup-
porters whose names did not make
headlines but whose steadfast Chris-
tian commitments to the cathedrals
fabric have done so much to ensureinstitutional and
architectural conti-
nuity for more than a century.
That they have done so for a cathe-
dral which has been no stranger to
controversy is not a major part of this
historical account. The focus is
instead on a determination to provide
a great place in a great city for those
seeking refuge in despair or confu-
sion; those who come to celebrate
private and public joys and to wor-
ship; those who are witnesses to great
state occasions; and, as always, those
people who love good music so
much that they would even go to
church to hear it.
Richard J. Mammana, Jr.
New Haven, Connecticut
